Aled Brew (born 9 August 1986) is a former

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who played as a winger. He made his debut for the

Wales national rugby union team The Wales national rugby union team ( cy, Tîm rygbi'r undeb cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played thei ...

against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the 2007 Six Nations Championship. In his career, as well as playing for

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz p ...

and

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 in the c ...

, he is one of only a handful of players to have played for all four top-level regional teams in Wales.

Early life

Brew was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

to a Welsh mother and Ghanaian father, and was raised a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

language speaker in

Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen ( cy, Gwauncaegurwen) is a village and community in the borough of Neath Port Talbot, South West Wales. Historically a part of Glamorgan, Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen is a parish made up of the electoral wards of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen and Lower ...

. His older brother

Nathan Nathan or Natan may refer to: People *Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name *Nathan (surname) *Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible * Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David an ...

also played rugby union professionally.

Club career

Having started his semi-professional career with stints at

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

and

Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premiership. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as ''The Whites,'' in reference to their home kit colours. History ...

, Brew joined the Ospreys at 17 years old. He was sent out on loan to the

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

for the 2006/7 season, for whom he scored 65 points in 28 appearances, scoring 13 tries. Playing alongside his brother, Brew was the victim of alleged racial abuse from fans on 16 February 2007, while playing against

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Ulster Branch, which is one of ...

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

. Ulster Rugby however were subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing and the abuse was not proven. Returning to the Ospreys for the 2007/8 season, he found competition hard against the in-form

Shane Williams Shane Mark Williams, (born 26 February 1977) is a Welsh rugby union player most famous for his long and successful tenure as a wing for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He also played scrum-half on occasion. Williams is the record tr ...

, despite having already played international rugby for

by that point, and spent much time in the second team. Brew signed for

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

in May 2008, however he made just one appearance in the 2008/9

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

season and was loaned to

Pontypridd RFC Pontypridd Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Pontypridd) are a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. They compete in the Indigo Group Premiership, which they won for four consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2015, and ...

and

later in the season. The following season, Brew returned to Dragons. In February 2012, after initially having discussions with Perpignan, Brew signed for French club

for the 2012/13 season. Brew re-joined the Newport Gwent Dragons in 2014, and after two seasons he left the Dragons on a short-term contract at English side Bath in the Aviva Premiership. In December 2016, Brew signed permanent deal with Bath until the end of the 2017–18 season., however her went on to spend four seasons with the club. Following this, Brew joined the Scarlets in September 2020 as short-term injury cover, but played just one match before announcing his retirement in December 2020. At the time of his retirement, he held the Dragons' try-scoring record with 43.

International career

Brew represented Wales at Under-16, Under-U18 and Under-21 levels, as well as playing for the

Wales Sevens The Wales national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens and in the Commonwealth Games. Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by Engl ...

team. He was called into the Wales national senior squad for the 2007 Six Nations Championship, making his senior debut as a replacement in the match against

. Brew was also named as part of

Gareth Jenkins Gareth John James Jenkins (born 11 September 1951) is a former Welsh rugby union rugby player, and former head coach of the Welsh national team. After a long and distinguished career at Llanelli RFC, Jenkins was appointed Wales coach in 2006, s ...

's squad for the two-Test tour of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in May 2007 and gained his second cap in the second Test defeat in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. Brew was named in Jenkins's 41-man preliminary

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

summer training squad in the June, but failed to make the final cut for the tournament. Brew has represented Wales Sevens in the first two stages of the 2007–2008 IRB Sevens World Series, in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

and

George, South Africa George is the second largest city in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre, as well as the administrative and commercial hub and the seat of the Garden Route District Municipality. It is na ...

, where the team won the Bowl trophy in the latter leg. Brew was part of the Wales Sevens team that won the Melrose Cup at the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens. In November 2010, Brew was recalled to the Wales national squad for the Autumn International series and was selected in the starting line-up against Fiji. He scored his first international try versus the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

on 4 June 2011. In August 2011 Brew was named in the Wales squad for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

in New Zealand.

International tries

References

External links

*
Wales profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brew, Aled 1986 births Living people Rugby union players from Cardiff Wales international rugby union players Rugby union wings Ospreys (rugby union) players Dragons RFC players Cardiff Rugby players Pontypridd RFC players Aberavon RFC players Black British sportspeople People educated at Cwmtawe Community School Scarlets players Biarritz Olympique players Bath Rugby players