Wales play their home games in strip comprising red shirts with the Prince of Wales feathers as the badge. Wales have produced many world famous players who have donned the red shirt, a few of whom are; Phil Bennett, Gareth Edwards, Rob Howley, Derek Quinnell, Ray Gravell, Allan Martin, Geoff Wheel, Terry Cobner, John P R Williams, Scott Gibbs, Jonathan Edwards, Gareth Llywellyn, Colin Charvis, Stephen Jones and Gareth Thomas.
error message from ebay is:The Welsh Rugby Union was formed in 1881 and played their first international against England the same year at Blackheath where they suffered a heavy defeat. Wales along with Ireland and Scotland were founders of the International Rugby Board IRB) in 1886. Wales have the advantage over the other home nations in so much as Rugby and not football is the major ball sport. Wales play their home games at; The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff having previously played at the world famous Cardiff Arms Park.
The Welsh Dragon has been a proud advert for the game of Rugby Football which in Wales is the national sport. The only home nation that boasts this fact. Wales suffer from a shortage of cash in the new professional era of rugby and so are inconsistent on the national stage. They do however still produce some special players and as a side on their day compete with the best.
1999Under coach Graham Henry Wales finished mid-table in the 1999 Five Nations, losing to Scotland and Ireland before beating both France and England by a point in each of their last games. Wales hosted the Rugby World Cup later that year, with the fabulous new Millennium Stadium as the showpiece for the tournament. In the opening match of the competition they edged Argentina 23-18, and a later loss to Samoa failed to prevent them finishing top of their group. Unfortunately for the home side their tournament was shortly to come to an end when they met eventual-winners Australia in the Quarterfinals, losing 24-9. | 2002-03Wales struggled to make their mark on the 2002 Six Nations, winning just one game (against Italy) and finishing second-to-last. They were even worse the following year under new coach Steve Hansen, losing all their games, including 8 point losses to Scotland and Italy and a 33-5 drubbing by the French, to finish last. Later in the year they travelled to Australia for the 2003 World Cup, raising eyebrows with their brave performance against the much-fancied All Blacks in pool play. However, they again experienced defeat in the Quarterfinals, again at the hands of the eventual winners, when they lost to England 28-17 in Brisbane. | ||
2005The proud Rugby nation relived the glory years in 2005 as coach Mike Ruddock guided them to Grand Slam victory in the Six Nations. Having opened their campaign with a hard fought victory over the English in Cardiff they then comprehensively beat the Italians in Rome and secured a famous 6-point win against the French in Paris. Returning to the UK they thumped Scotland 46-22 at Murrayfield, before facing Ireland at Millennium Stadium in the final week of games. France’s 56-13 drubbing of Italy had left them with a sniff of the title, but Ruddock’s side would not be denied, winning 32-20 and securing the title for the Red Dragons. | 2007Wales’ up-and-down form continued in 2007 as they slumped to 5th in the Six Nations, losing all but their last game, against England. Their group for the 2007 World Cup, hosted by France, shouldn’t have posed too many problems, with Australia the only real heavyweight contender, but an upset 38-34 loss to Fiji put their tournament life in danger. Despite resounding wins over Canada and Japan the loss to the Pacific Islanders, combined with a 32-20 loss to eventual winners Australia, did indeed signal the end of the campaign for the Welsh, knocked out of the competition before the knock-out phase. | ||
2008Wales welcomed another Kiwi-born coach, Warren Gatland, in to the top job following their poor showing at the 2007 World Cup, and the former front rower achieved immediate results. The Welsh opened their 2008 Six Nations campaign with a stirring victory over England at Twickenham, before comprehensively beating the Scots in Cardiff, 30-15. In the third round they easily accounted for Italy in Rome, winning 47-8, while England’s win over France on the same weekend meant the title was Wales’ to lose. They held their composure in the last two rounds, edging a brave Ireland 16-12 at Dublin’s Croke Park before putting the icing on the cake with a 29-12 defeat of the French at Millennium Stadium. | 2009Warren Gatland was unable to inspire a repeat performance in 2009, with his side showing signs of the inconsistency that had dogged Welsh Rugby for the past 20 years. They started the 2009 Six Nations with a solid win away from home against Scotland, and followed that up with a win over England in Cardiff. They were then beaten 21-16 by France at the Stade de France, beat Italy by five in Rome the following week and lost by 2 to Ireland at home in the final round. The tight nature of the 2009 competition meant they actually finished tied for second, with Ireland having run away with the title, but points differential consigned them to a disappointing 4th place finish. | ||
2011A tepid display by the Welsh in the 2011 Six Nations hinted little at the potential the young side had to offer later in the year. Losses to eventual winners England, and France led to a 4th place finish on the table, and a challenging group for the World Cup in New Zealand at the end of the season would have sent shivers down the spines of Welsh fans. But they stormed out of the blocks in October, coming desperately close to a boil-over victory against South Africa and announcing their status as genuine contenders. Their crunch game in pool play was against the Samoans, who they dispatched 17-10 with a gutsy display to qualify for the knockout phase. The Red Dragons were too strong for the Irish in the Quarters, booking themselves a Semi-Final date with the French. Things went wrong early when captain Sam Warburton was sent off in a controversial refereeing decision, and the Welsh never recovered, losing 9-8 in a game they were favoured to win. They went on to lose the 3rd and 4th playoff match to Australia, 21- 18. | 20122012 was a bizarre season for the Welsh. After a stirring performance in the World Cup the year before they swept all before them in the Six Nations, snaring their third Grand Slam in eight years. They then travelled to Australia for a three match tour, and despite being in contention in all three tests were clean-swept, thanks in no small part to the performances of Australia’s openside flanker David Pocock. Then the wheels really fell off when the Southern Hemisphere sides toured at the end of the year, where losses to Argentina, Samoa, New Zealand and a last-gasp loss to the Wallabies in the final international of the year left the Welsh sitting on a string of 7 consecutive defeats and in the midst of a rugby crisis. |