Martin Roberts (born 6 June 1986) is a Wales 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 ...

footballer who plays as a scrum-half. 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 ...

, Roberts began his professional career with

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 ...

, before graduating to the

Ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

regional team, and during his time there would play infrequently for Neath, as well as the Ospreys' other

Welsh Premier Division The Welsh Premier Division, () known for sponsorship reasons as the Admiral Premiership, (''Uwch Gynghrair grŵp indigo'') is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the 1990–91 season. 2025–26 se ...

feeder clubs,

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

and

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

. One of Roberts' teammates at the Ospreys was fly-half

James Hook James Hook may refer to: * Captain Hook, the villain of J. M. Barrie's play and novel ''Peter Pan'' * James Hook (composer) (1746–1827), English composer and organist * James Hook (priest) (1771–1828), English priest, Dean of Worcester * James ...

, with whom he formed an effective half back partnership, after the pair had done the same at both Neath College and Neath RFC. After three years with the Ospreys, Roberts signed for their regional rivals, the Scarlets, on 27 March 2008, following the departure of former Scarlets scrum-half

Dwayne Peel Dwayne John Peel (born 31 August 1981) is a Welsh rugby union coach and former player. He was the most capped scrum-half for the Wales national rugby union team with 76 caps, until his record was surpassed by Mike Phillips on 16 March 2013. Yo ...

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

. He signed a two-year contract with the Llanelli region, where he would compete with Sililo Martens, Lee Williams and Gavin Cattle for the number 9 jersey. Roberts has represented

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 ...

internationally at every level from schools through to full international. In 2007, Roberts was selected for the Wales Sevens team. Roberts was selected for the Wales senior squad for the Autumn international series in October 2008. After Premier Rugby refused to release Peel and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

scrum-half

Gareth Cooper Gareth Cooper (born 7 May 1979 in Bridgend) is a former Wales international rugby union player who played in the scrum-half position. Career Cooper started playing rugby with Pencoed before moving to Bath in the West Country. Cooper made his in ...

for Wales' final Autumn test against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, coach

Warren Gatland Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963) is a New Zealand former rugby union player and the former head coach of the Wales national rugby union team, Wales national team. As a player, he was a Hooker (rugby union), hooker and was one of ...

gave Roberts his international debut with a start against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on 14 November in an effort to give him a level of international experience ahead of the Australia game. Roberts made two more appearances for Wales in the 2009 Autumn tests, first coming on for Cooper after 54 minutes of the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

game on 7 November, before replacing Peel for the final eight minutes of the Australia match three weeks later. On 18 January 2010, he was named in the 35-man Wales squad for the

2010 Six Nations Championship The 2010 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2010 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Championship and the 116th international championship, an annual rugby union competition b ...

. On 18 March 2011, it was announced that Roberts would join

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. ...

at the end of the 2010–11 season. Roberts parted company with

at the end of the 2012–13 season and joined

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground, Bath, Rec ...

, after the Saints signed scrum-half

Kahn Fotuali'i Kahn Fotuali'i (born 22 May 1982) is a former Samoan rugby union player. During his long career he played for clubs across the globe in New Zealand, Wales, England, USA and in France with Montpellier in the Top 14. He played as a scrum-half. I ...

from Roberts' former team, the Ospreys. On 11 July 2014, Roberts re-signed with the

from the 2014–15 season. In January 2016, Roberts was granted early release from his contract with the Ospreys to join

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

club

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

on an 18-month deal until the end of the 2016–17 season.

References

External links

Profile
at scarlets.co.uk
Profile
at wru.co.uk

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Martin 1986 births Living people Welsh rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves Ospreys (rugby union) players Scarlets players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Northampton Saints players Bath Rugby players Wales international rugby union players Rugby union players from Aberdare Bristol Bears players Rouen Normandie Rugby players Welsh expatriate rugby union players in France