Darren Morris (born 24 September 1974) is a former

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who also represented the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

. He moved to Texas in 2015 as Director of Rugby for Griffins Rugby in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas, USA.

Club career

Morris was born in

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; ) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and River Cynon, Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydf ...

, and educated at Aberdare Boys School, Neath College and the

University of Glamorgan The University of Glamorgan () was a public university based in South Wales, that merged with University of Wales, Newport to form the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university was based in Pontypridd, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, with ...

(now the

University of South Wales The University of South Wales (USW) () is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. The ...

). Played for

Neath RFC Neath Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the Indigo Premiership for Season 2024/25. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The team is known as the All Blacks because of the team colours: black with only a whi ...

from 1992 to 1998, and during this period also played in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

for

Eastern Suburbs Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league ...

, where they made it to the Grand Final in 1995. During this time he was also involved with the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team based in Brisbane for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union ...

. He then moved to

Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Super Rygbi Cymru. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as ''The Whites,'' in reference to their home kit colours. History ...

in 1998 where the club won numerous leagues and cups. He captained

their 2002/2003 season. Morris then joined

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

with England props

Graham Rowntree Graham Christopher Rowntree (born 18 April 1971) is an English rugby union former player and former head coach of Irish club Munster. He played loosehead prop for Leicester Tigers and England. He was capped 54 times for England, despite havin ...

and Julian White. Morris signed for

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors are a professional rugby union club based in Worcester, England. They most recently played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby union, before being suspended by the Rugby Football Union, RFU in September 2 ...

and made 64 appearances for the club. He joined

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

. In January 2010, Morris signed for

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

until the end of the season. The following season Morris joined

RGC 1404 RGC 1404 (Rygbi Gogledd Cymru 1404), formerly "Gogledd Cymru" (, "North Wales"), is a rugby union team founded in 2008 and based in Colwyn Bay, Conwy. They currently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru; after winning Division 1 East at the first atte ...

as a forwards coach whilst involved

Ampthill RUFC Ampthill Rugby Club is an English rugby union team based in Ampthill, Bedfordshire. The club runs six senior teams and the full range of junior sides. The first XV play in the RFU Championship, the second tier of the English rugby union system ...

. Morris then joined

Hartpury College Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education The university and college is set in a 360-hectare estate located in Hartpury, near Gloucester, in Gloucestershire, England. The ...

in a player-coach role before announcing his retirement from playing at the end of the 2011–12 season. In 2011 he signed as scrum coach for the Russian national team and went to the 2011 World cup. He continued this role and became forwards coach of the Russia's national team in 2012 to 2013. In 2013 he took a role as Director of Rugby in

Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

for a full-time team called Kuban, taking them to their highest ever position in their first season at the highest level of rugby in Russia. He returned to rugby in 2013, signing for

Doncaster Knights Doncaster Knights Rugby Football Club ''(formerly, Doncaster RFC)'' are a professional rugby union club representing the city of Doncaster, England. The club play in the 2nd division of English rugby, the RFU Championship. Being the most prom ...

as a player-coach as well as helping them get promoted back to the Championship that season.

International career

Darren Morris began his international career at the age of 15 for Wales U-15's. Morris continued to play international rugby with both Welsh schools (U-18's) which he captained and then moving onto Welsh Youth (U-19's), and Welsh U-21's. Although Morris was selected for Wales in 1996, injury prevented him from being able to play. He made his Senior Wales début on 6 June 1998 against

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. He played in the

2001 Six Nations The 2001 Six Nations Championship was the second series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, and the 107th international championship overall. The tournament was affected by an outbreak of the highly infectious livestock disease 2001 Unit ...

and Morris played on the

2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia The 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a series of matches played by the British & Irish Lions rugby union team in Australia. The Lions squad was captain (sport), captained by Martin Johnson (rugby union), Martin Johnson, the firs ...

. He also went on the 2004 tour to Argentina and South Africa under

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who was later an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC. Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors from 2007 to 2010. He ...

. In 2005 he was again involved with the

on their practice squad and standby.

Club career

International career

References

External links