Bethan Dainton (born 12 April 1989) is a Welsh

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

player who plays as for

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headin ...

. She formerly played

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 it ...

as back row for the

Wales women's national rugby union team The Wales women's national rugby union team first played in 1987. Wales plays in the Women's Rugby World Cup and the Women's Six Nations Championship History Wales Women have played as a team officially since 5 April 1987 when a Wales Women te ...

and Harlequins Women in the Allianz's Premier 15s. She made her debut for the Wales national squad in 2016, and represented them at the

2021 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 20th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The 2021 tournament was given a change ...

Club career

Dainton has a long-established sporting career, having represented Wales in athletics and cross country in both Union and league codes. However, she did not begin playing rugby until 2015, when she was invited to play for the Dragon's sevens team by Wales player Gemma Rowland. Dainton then played for

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 1 ...

before signing with her current club, Harlequins Women in the Premier 15s .

International career

After joining the Dragon's sevens team in 2015, Dainton represented Wales in both legs of the

Rugby Europe Championship The Rugby Europe International Championships is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations. The tournament is split into 5 levels, each with 5 or 6 teams. Its highest level is now called the Rugby Europe Championship an ...

in Russia and France, where she helped Wales secure a place in the Women's

Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

Qualifiers in Dublin, Ireland. In January 2016, she was named in Wales' 28-woman squad for the

2016 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2016 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2016 RBS Women's Six Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union ...

, and won her first cap in the opening game against Ireland. A serious foot injury sustained on international sevens duty kept her out of action for nearly all of the 2017/18 season, and after a lengthy period of rehab she switched from wing to back row. Dainton then returned to the international scene as she was called up for the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship. in Wales' opening game against France in the

Dainton has won eight caps in her rugby career to date. She has won international caps in both the backs and the forwards.

Personal life

Bombardier Dainton is enlisted in the British Army, serving with the 74th Battery of the

39th Regiment Royal Artillery 39 Regiment Royal Artillery was part of the Royal Artillery. Its name is pronounced "three nine", The Regiment was one of the Depth fire units of 1st Artillery Brigade, part of the British Army. It was formed in 1947, and placed into suspended a ...

. Over the winter of 2010–11, she was posted to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, where her squadron provided precision artillery support to 16 Air Assault Brigade in

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

. Dainton was one of 71 soldiers to be awarded their Operational Service Medals for Afghanistan at a ceremony in Newcastle in March 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dainton, Bethan 1989 births Living people Barbarian F.C. players Bristol Bears Women players British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Dragons RFC players Dual-code rugby internationals Footballers who switched code Harlequins Women rugby players Leeds Rhinos Women players Royal Artillery soldiers Rugby league players from Caerphilly Rugby union players from Caerphilly Wales national rugby league team players Wales international rugby union players Wasps Women rugby players Welsh rugby league players Welsh female rugby union players