Lenny Woodard (born 2 April 1976) is a professional

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

er who played

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 ...

for

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 ...

as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

, and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

for

.Graham Williams, Peter Lush, David Farrar (November 2009). "The British Rugby League Records Book age-108…114. London League Publications Ltd.

Background

Woodard was born in

Pontypool Pontypool ( ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in South Wales. , it has a population of 29,062. Locat ...

Gwent Gwent may refer to: Places *Kingdom of Gwent, a post-Roman Welsh kingdom or principality which existed in various forms between about the 5th and 11th centuries, although the name continued in use later *Gwent (preserved county), a preserved count ...

, Wales. He went to Greenlawn Junior school where he first played rugby. He received player of the year and was top scorer scoring a hat-trick in county schools cup final at Rodney Parade. He also represented Pontypool Schools in the DC Thomas Cup final at Bridgend. He represented Gwent schools as well. He attended West Mon comprehensive school and was captain of his very successful year team and was captain of the 1st XV when they beat Millfield School. He left school with 7 As and 2 Bs from his GCSEs and attended Pontypool College gaining all As in his A-Level grades . He went on to study Human Movement studies at UWIC and went back in 2003 to gain a PGCE in Secondary Education. Whilst at UWIC he was selected for Wales under-21 for the 5 nations campaign in 1996, Wales Students rugby league v England and Great Britain students rugby league tour and test match v France, scoring a try in the test match in a narrow 10-4 win He is also a WRU Level 3 coach

International honours

Woodard represented

(RU) during the 1998 tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa in non- Test matches, and won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s for

(RL) while at Pontypridd RFC (RU), and Bridgend Blue Bulls (RL) 1999...2005 (4?)3-caps + 2-caps (

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

/ substitute) 3-tries 12-points. He scored a hatrick of tries for Wales v Russia in 2003. Woodard also played international touch rugby for Wales in the European Cup, scoring the winning try v Scotland. Woodard also gained international honours in hockey for Wales at U15, U16 and U18 level. Woodard represented Wales and went onto represent Great Britain Students in rugby league. He played for Swinton Lions and Hull Sharks in the late 1990s and Celtic Crusaders in 2006 season.

Career records

On Friday 2 May 2003, Woodard scored a club record 7-tries for

in a 90–3 victory over

Treorchy RFC Treorchy Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the village of Treorchy, in the Rhondda Valley, Wales. They formed in 1886 and by 1891 were a strong voice in the Welsh Football Union and were playing in the Rhondda Division. Club histo ...

. He scored three more tries against

Aberavon RFC Aberavon Rugby Club () is a rugby union club located in the Welsh town of Port Talbot, though the club's name refers to the older settlement of Aberavon which lies on the western side of the town. The club was founded in 1876 as Afan Football ...

in the following game to reach a season tally of 44 tries (39 league tries and five in the Principality Cup) and earned the accolade of having Pontypool's best try aggregate since

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, surpassing the 39-tries scored by David Bishop in the 1983–84 season, but less than the 55-tries scored by wing

Tom Robbins Thomas Eugene Robbins (July 22, 1932 – February 9, 2025) was an American novelist. His most notable works are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy dramas"). Robbins had lived in La Conner, Washington, since 1970, where he wrote nine of his ...

in the 1913–14 season. In October 2009, Woodard scored two tries for

Newbridge RFC Newbridge RFC is a Welsh rugby union club based in Newbridge, Caerphilly, in South Wales. Newbridge RFC was formed in 1888 and joined the WRU in 1911. They play in the WRU Welsh Championship East. Club history Newbridge RFC was established in ...

in the 37–31 league win at

Rumney RFC Rumney Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union based in Rumney, Wales. Rumney RFC presently compete in the Welsh Rugby Union Championship East. Rumney were promoted to the Championship after finishing second in the Division One East league ...

to take him to 150 career tries. He is the highest try scorer in Welsh league history, amassing 186 league tries. He also scored 16 tries in England (15 for London Welsh and 1 for Pertemps Bees (Birmingham and Solihull). This combined effort saw over 200 league tries and he was also a prolific scorer in cup rugby.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at ponty.net
*(archived by web.archive.org

*(archived by web.archive.org)
Statistics at eurosport.co.ukLennie Woodard breaks Pontypool's try record
*(archived by web.archive.org) {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodard, Leonard 1976 births Living people 20th-century Welsh sportsmen 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Aberavon RFC players Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C. players Bridgend Blue Bulls players Bridgend RFC players Cardiff Metropolitan University RFC players Cross Keys RFC players Crusaders Rugby League players Dual-code rugby internationals Ebbw Vale RFC players Footballers who switched code Glamorgan Wanderers RFC players London Welsh RFC players Maesteg RFC players Newbridge RFC players Pontypool RFC players Pontypridd RFC players Rugby league players from Cwmbran Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Cwmbran Rugby union wings Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players