Ioan Lloyd (born 5 April 2001) 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

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

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

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

and the Wales national team.

Club career

Early years

Lloyd won the 2015 Dewar Shield with Cardiff Schools before joining

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 ...

. He then moved to England, joining

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

and was quickly snapped up by

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Bristol

He made his first professional appearance playing for

against Bath in the first game of the 2019-2020

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

season and scored two tries in his first two performances. Lloyd was named man of the match on his competitive debut at fly half, scoring 22 points in a 59–21 win against

Zebre Parma 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 t ...

in the

2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup The 2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup was the sixth edition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup ...

. In 2021, Lloyd was named as the Discovery of the Season after a breakout year for Bristol, moving from a bench player to a starter for the first team. Known for his versatility, Lloyd has started matches at fly half, centre, wing, and fullback, and has covered scrum half during an injury crisis. Ahead of the

2022–23 Premiership Rugby The 2022–23 Premiership Rugby is the 36th season of the top flight of English domestic rugby union competition and the fifth to be sponsored by Gallagher. The competition will be broadcast by BT Sport for the tenth successive season with six l ...

season, Bristol coach

Pat Lam Patrick Richard Lam (born 29 September 1968) is a rugby union coach and former player. He is currently Director of Rugby at Bristol Bears in England's Premiership Rugby. Born in New Zealand, he represented New Zealand in schools and under-21 ...

indicated that Lloyd’s long term focus would be at inside centre. On 18 April 2023, it was announced that Lloyd would be joining the

for the 2023–24 season.

Scarlets

Lloyd made his first Scarlets appearance in a preseason friendly against 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 less c ...

along with fellow new signing Taine Plumtree. The pair made their competitive debuts for the Scarlets together against the Bulls on their South African tour.

International career

Wales U18 and U20

Lloyd played for Wales U18 at the 2019 Six Nations Festival. Lloyd progressed to the Wales U20 squad for the 2020 Six Nations U20 Championship, starting two matches at fullback.

Wales

On 6 October 2020 he was named in the senior

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 ...

squad for the 2020

Autumn Nations Cup The Autumn Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held in November and December 2020 in place of the usual Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoiding extended travel due to the COVID- ...

. He made his debut for Wales on the 18 November 2020 as a second half replacement the 18-0 win against Georgia. Prior to his international debut, Lloyd had only made four starts for Bristol. Lloyd earned his second cap the next week, coming off the bench against Italy. Lloyd was selected in the Welsh squad for the

2021 July rugby union tests The 2021 mid-year rugby union internationals (also known as the summer internationals in the Northern Hemisphere) were a series of international rugby union matches that are typically played in the Southern Hemisphere during the July international ...

, but did not feature in any of the match day squads. Lloyd earned a recall to the Wales squad for the

2024 Six Nations Championship The 2024 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Men's Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was a rugby union competition that took place in February and March 2024, and featured the men's national teams of England national rugby union tea ...

Personal life

Lloyd’s younger brother Jac is also a fly half, and has followed in his footsteps: both having played for Wales U20. Jac has also played for Clifton College, and is part of the Bristol Bears academy, like Ioan before him.

References

External links

*
Ioan Lloyd
at

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running ...

Bristol profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Ioan Living people 2001 births Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Rugby union players from Cardiff Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks Bristol Bears players Scarlets players