Taylor Welch (born November 1, 1989) is an American rugby player who played one professional

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 ...

match for the

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

in 2008. Welch was selected to represent the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

at the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams. It took place between the 26 October and 30 November and was hosted by England and Wales (although some games were played in France and Ire ...

Background

Welch was born in

Dallas, Texas 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 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He and his father relocated to

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England in 2003, following the death of his mother. He attended

Crosfields School Shinfield is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Wokingham, Berkshire, England. It lies just south of Reading, around from the town centre, and covers an area of . Shinfield Park is the northern part of the parish, becoming physical ...

and

Lymm High School Lymm High School is a comprehensive secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Lymm, Warrington, Cheshire. History The date the school was founded is unknown, but the earliest known reference to the school is in a chur ...

Playing career

Having played

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

in his youth, he transitioned to

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 ...

in school and was convinced to try

by the

head coach Paul Cullen, joining the team's youth academy. Playing as a , his under 18s début initially was held back due to his classification as an overseas player, an issue finally resolved with special dispensation from the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

. In 2008, Welch was drafted onto Warrington's 19-man roster to cover for an injured Chris Riley. Riley was cleared to play, however Welch had trained so well that he was selected to the 13-man playing roster ahead of teammate Kevin Penny for the game against the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

. He is thought to have become the first American to play for Warrington Wolves and the first ever to play in the

. Welch has continued to play rugby union. He was selected in the

training squad for the

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 ...

NAWIRA Sevens Qualifiers in the Bahamas. He has played for

Fylde Rugby Club Fylde Rugby Union Club is a rugby union club based in Lytham St Annes, on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. The home venue is the Woodlands Memorial Ground on Blackpool Road in Ansdell and the first team play in English rugby's Natio ...

Pays d'Aix RC Provence Rugby () is a French rugby union club currently playing in Pro D2, the second tier of France's league system. They were promoted back to the second level for the 2018–19 season after two seasons in Fédérale 1. Based in Aix-en-Provenc ...

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

and

Sale F.C. 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 ...

, and applied for U.K. citizenship to enable him to count as a player in Super League. Welch subsequently relocated back to the

. He has continued playing rugby with the New York Raiders of the

American National Rugby League The American National Rugby League (AMNRL) was the national governing body for rugby league in the United States from 1997 to 2014. The organization was responsible for running the domestic club competitions and the United States national rug ...

and the Chicago Griffins rugby union team, and has trained with the startup Chicago Stockyarders. In October 2014, Welch signed with the semi-professional

Townsville Blackhawks The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

for their inaugural season in Australia's

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

References

External links

Wyles and Ngwenya in USA Sevens squad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Taylor 1989 births Living people American emigrants to England American expatriate rugby league players American expatriate rugby union players in France American rugby league players Chicago Griffins RFC players Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Fylde Rugby Club players New York Raiders rugby league players Provence Rugby players Rugby league players from Texas Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Texas Sportspeople from Dallas Townsville Blackhawks players United States national rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players