Bradley Roberts is a

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 plays as a hooker for

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

side

Dragons RFC 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 ...

. He was called up to play international rugby for

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 ...

in 2021. Roberts was born in Durban, South Africa where he attended Durban Preparatory High School and then

Michaelhouse Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan valley in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. History ''St. Michael's Diocesan College'' was founded in Pietermaritzburg in 18 ...

. After school, having failed to get an academy or development contract with a South African provincial team, he moved to

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

, north Wales, and joined RGC 1404 in mid-season. He returned to South Africa in the summer, where he trained and played with the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

at under-19 level. When no contract was offered, he began studying at

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

.Alastair Telfer
"Bradley Roberts: From Durban to Wales via the All Ireland League"
BBC Sport, 29 April 2022 In 2017 he was invited to join Rainey Old Boys in

Magherafelt Magherafelt (, �mˠaxəɾʲəˈfʲiːlt̪ˠə is a small town and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,805 at the 2011 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county and is the social, econo ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

, after their director of rugby, Brian Smyth, received a highlights video from a South African contact. He helped the team get promoted to division 2A of the All Ireland League in 2018-19. His impressive club performances led to his call up to the Ulster squad as injury cover at hooker. He was named in the side for Round of the

2020–21 Pro14 The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the ''PRO ...

against

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He made his Ulster debut in this match, coming on as a replacement. He was selected for his second appearance against

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

on the 27th December 2020. He came on in the 68th minute for John Andrew. He signed a one-year professional contract in April 2021. Roberts was called up to play for

in the 2021 Autumn internationals, having qualified through his paternal grandmother, who was from

Llandysul Llandysul is a small town and community in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. As a community it consists of the townships of Capel Dewi, Horeb, Pontsian, Pren-gwyn, Tregroes, Rhydowen and the village of Llandysul itself. Llandysul lies in sout ...

. To remain available to play for Wales, he left Ulster and joined Welsh side

on a long-term contract at the end of the 2021-22 season."Bradley Roberts: Wales hooker to join Dragons from Ulster at end of season"
BBC Sport, 25 January 2022

International tries

References

External links

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Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profileWales profile
1996 births Living people Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Durban South African rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players RGC 1404 players Dragons RFC players Alumni of Michaelhouse {{SouthAfrica-rugbyunion-bio-stub