David Richards (born 30 July 1999) is a Welsh professional

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

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

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 ...

club Dragons.

Club career

Early life and amateur rugby

Richards attended Monmouth School, and came through the Dragons academy. Richards played for

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Casnewydd) is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on t ...

, and was named Player of the Match in their 2022 Premiership Cup win.

Dragons

Richards was named in the Dragons first team for the 2021–22 season, as was added to their European squad in January 2022. He made his debut for the Dragons in Round 5 of the

2021–22 EPCR Challenge Cup The 2021–22 EPCR Challenge Cup was the eighth edition of the EPCR Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this was the 26th ...

against . He made his first start against

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

in the

on 29 October 2022. During the match, Richards scored two tries and was subsequently named Player of the Match. Richards started the following match against the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

, but suffered a hamstring injury and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. Ahead of the

2023–24 United Rugby Championship The 2023–24 United Rugby Championship is the 23rd season of the professional rugby union competition known as the United Rugby Championship, and the third season under that name. It began on 21 October 2023 and will end on 22 June 2024. The re ...

season, Richards signed a contract extension with the Dragons.

References

1999 births Living people Dragons RFC players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Cwmbran Welsh rugby union players {{Wales-rugbyunion-bio-stub