Welsh Exiles

About the Exiles

The Welsh Exiles was established in 1990 to search for Welsh players, or players of Welsh ancestry, living outside of the homeland. Brigadier Rolph James was appointed as chairman with Terry Cobner appointed as the first Exiles coach. The Welsh Exiles are based at the English National League Division One club London Welsh.

The initial games played by the Welsh Exiles involved senior players who played for English clubs with the occasional player being brought over from France. As the game evolved in Wales, the requirements of the Exiles changed and the search for talented players changed to the search for talented youngsters up to 21 years of age. The first player to be capped for Wales whilst playing in England at U21 level was Colin Charvis, who went on to play for and captain Wales, in addition to becoming a British Lion.

The role of the Exiles changed with the inception of professionalism and the search for promising players was narrowed to a younger age group. Today, the Exiles concentrate their resources in searching for talented young men at U15 level through to U18 level, with players often fed into the Dragons region. However, senior players are constantly monitored as Ben Broster found out in the summer of 2005 when he was capped by Wales on the Welsh tour of USA and Canada - his last cap for Wales was when he was a schoolboy.

Other examples of high-profile Exiles include Tom Shanklin, who hails from London and Saracens, as he progressed through the Exiles to international and Lions honours. Ospreys' hooker Huw Bennett attended an English school and played for the Exiles before returning to Wales and gaining caps for the national side.

Departmental Staff

Chairman	Martyn Ryan	ryan@giml.co.uk	Tel: 07775 629266
Secretary	Terwyn Williams	terwynw@hotmail.com	Tel: 07900 981639
Squad Manager	Gareth Davies	garethldavies@hotmail.com	Tel: 07500 966099

Millennium Stadium manager Mark Williams is excitedly looking forward to tomorrow's Judgement Day II where all four regions will be playing at the Cardiff cathedral of rugby.

The Millennium Stadium will host the biggest beer festival in Wales when the inaugural 'W-Ales Beer Festival' comes to the iconic city-centre venue this summer (5-7 June).

Porthcawl recently received a WRU facilities grant and funding from Natwest RugbyForce in order to give their changing rooms a facelift. This came after receiving £10,000 in a WRU facilities grant last year to tarmac their car park. The improvements have already helped to make the club more accessible, not only for their own members and players but for the whole community.

Minis to Millennium

The development of the game in Wales starts at U7 level and follows talent development through to senior representative and community rugby

Club Development

Learn more about the changing face of clubs in Wales, the funding options available, and the methods of developing the hubs of the community game

Leisure Rugby

Rugby Camps, Touch Rugby and Rugby Tots are all covered in this section covering wider aspects of the community game and development

Coaching Development

The WRU Coach Education Programme aims to develop the right coach for every player at every stage of their development in the game

Referee Development

The varying levels of refereeing courses enable prospective referees and touch judges to start or build on the skills necessary to become a bona fide, qualified match official

Club Contacts

Interested in joining a rugby club in Wales? Find contact information for all WRU Member Clubs

Safeguarding

The welfare of children within Rugby Union is paramount and the WRU are committed to ensuring the correct policies are adhered to within the game.

Volunteers

The WRU recognises how important volunteers are and wants to be as proactive as possible in supporting, recruiting and developing them as well as providing recognition for their contribution