Mackenzie Martin (born 26 October 2003) is a Welsh professional

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 plays as a number eight for

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

club

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and the Wales national team.

Early life

From

Ely, Cardiff Ely ( from ''tref'', town + , River Ely) is a district and community in Cardiff, Wales. It is to the north of Cowbridge Road West. Caerau defines the boundary to the south as does River Ely to the east and in part to the north. Roman era In R ...

, he was schooled Hywel Dda primary school, Mary Immaculate High School and

Cardiff and Vale College Cardiff and Vale College abbreviated to CAVC (), is a mixed-sex education Further Education college in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The college was formed in September 2011 by the merger of Barry College and Coleg Glan Hafren. The ...

. He played for the

Cardiff Rugby 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 ...

academy from U15 level. Martin first played as a prop, before moving to the back row.

Club career

He featured for

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club () is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after which relocating to Ca ...

as they won the 2021–22 Indigo Group Premiership. That season he split his time between playing for Cardiff RFC,

and the

Wales national under-20 rugby union team The Wales national under-20 rugby union team is for Welsh rugby union players aged 20 or under on 1 January of the year during which they are selected. Under-20 age grade rugby came into existence as a result of the IRB combining the Under 19 Rugb ...

. In July 2023, he signed a pro contract with

to move from the academy to the first-team squad. He made his

debut for

against the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...

, on 24 November 2023. He scored his first Cardiff Rugby try on 9 December 2023 against

Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain () (), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Toulouse is the most successfu ...

in the

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pr ...

. Martin signed a senior contract with Cardiff on 19 January 2024.

International career

He represented Wales U20 at the

2023 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2023 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was the 16th Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship for players under 20 years of age. Ireland retained the championship, their fifth, winning all f ...

. He also featured at the

2023 World Rugby U20 Championship The 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship was the 13th edition of the premier age-grade rugby union competition. The tournament is hosted in South Africa for the second time, previously being held in 2012. The 2023 under 20 competition (alongside ...

in the summer of 2023. In January 2024, he was included for the senior

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 ...

squad for the

2024 Six Nations Championship The 2024 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Men's Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was a rugby union competition that took place in February and March 2024, and featured the men's national teams of England national rugby union tea ...

References

External links

*
Mackenzie Martin
at

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; ) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, overseeing 320 member clu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Mackenzie 2003 births Living people Cardiff Rugby players Welsh rugby union players Rugby union players from Cardiff Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Wales international rugby union players