Lee Byrne (born 1 June 1980) is a Welsh former 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 ...

and

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 112 ...

footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s.

Club career

Byrne started his career playing

for

Bridgend Athletic RFC Bridgend Athletic RFC are a Wales, Welsh rugby union club based in Bridgend in South Wales. They are members of the Welsh Rugby Union playing in the National League Division 1 West and are a feeder club for the Ospreys (rugby union), Ospreys. Hi ...

; and

Tondu RFC Tondu Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the village of Aberkenfig, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Rugby Union Championship and are a feeder club for the Ospreys. During the early 1990s Tondu RFC dominated the Glamor ...

, as a full-back or

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, and after being spotted playing

for

Bridgend Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known as Bridgend Blue Bulls RLFC between 2003 and 2012) are a rugby league side based in Pyle, Wales. They play in the Welsh Premier of the Rugby League Conference. They are the most successful amateur rugby league team in Wale ...

, he signed for the

Llanelli 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 ...

. While playing 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 ...

in 2007, Byrne demonstrated his abilities as a stand-in kicker when he kicked two penalties and two conversions after fly-half Shaun Connor went off injured. Given permission to seek a new club for the 2011–12 season, Byrne signed a three-year deal to play for French club

ASM Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French ...

, where he will play his club rugby post 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 ...

. On 8 January 2014, it was reported that Byrne had agreed to join

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 ...

from the end of the 2013–14 season. On 23 April 2015, it was announced Byrne was to retire from all rugby with immediate effect, after failing to recover from a shoulder injury.

International career

Following his good performances for the Llanelli Scarlets in both the

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 ...

, and the Heineken Cup during the 2005–06 season, he was called up to the national squad for the November Test series. He made his début as a replacement against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

on 5 November at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

. Wales lost 3–41. He also played in the win over

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, and the defeat by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He has since played during the

2006 Six Nations Championship The 2006 Six Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this ...

, and earned a further two caps in a mid-year series against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. His sole appearance in the 2006 Autumn internationals was on the wing against the

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

. Byrne was a revelation in the

2008 Six Nations Championship The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

tournament at full back and a key component of Wales' Grand Slam. He scored tries against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the

. Following his superb performances for Wales in the 2008 Autumn Internationals against South Africa, New Zealand, and

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 ...

(which included a try against the latter), Byrne had been tipped not only for a place in the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

squad, but also a place in the starting 15. This was confirmed on 21 April 2009, when Byrne, along with

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 ...

Rob Kearney Robert Kearney (born 26 March 1986) is an Irish rugby union former player. He played for 15 years for Leinster followed by a 6 month stint in Australia, playing for Perth based side Western Force. He also played over a decade for the Ireland na ...

, were selected as one of the British & Irish Lions' fullbacks for the tour. After the fourth tour match he was one of five players to be picked for three of them. He caused controver in February 2010 during the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

match when Scotland's coach

Andy Robinson Richard Andrew Robinson OBE (born 3 April 1964) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He was the director of rugby at Bristol until November 2016. He is the former head coach of Scotland and England. From September 2019 to Decemb ...

accused Byrne of diving to get substitute fly-half

Phil Godman Phil Godman (born 20 May 1982) is an ex rugby union player, who played for Edinburgh Rugby and Newcastle Falcons as well as representing Scottish rugby union side. Early life He was educated at Merchiston Castle School, where he played for the ...

sent off and give Wales a penalty, from which they scored and went on to win the match. Byrne was a member of the Wales squad for the

. He earned his final cap in the pool match against Fiji.

International tries

Wales

British & Irish Lions

Personal

It was announced in March 2011 that Byrne had become engaged to ITV Wales Tonight presenter Andrea Benfield; they married on New Year's Day 2012. Byrne has spoken publicly about his dyslexia. It has caused him some setbacks - "There were a couple of times where I would go out and the French players would say I wasn’t picking up French very easily. I remember one of the players saying I was lazy and I wasn’t learning. Obviously there was a reason because of my dyslexia, so that upset me a little bit" - but it has not been exclusively a negative for him - "I could see space before it happened - quicker than anybody else - so in a way I suppose it was a gift for me." In November 2017, Lee Byrne published his autobiography, ''The Byrne Identity''. Sections from it were serialised over four issues of The

Western Mail (Wales) The ''Western Mail'' is a daily newspaper published by Media Wales Ltd in Cardiff, Wales owned by the UK's largest newspaper company, Reach plc. The Sunday edition of the newspaper is published under the title ''Wales on Sunday''. It describ ...

.http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/wru-chiefs-meet-lee-byrne-13791869/ 'WRU chiefs to meet Lee Byrne following claims about Rob Howley in explosive new book'

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Ospreys profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Wales profile

Lee Byrne
on sporting-heroes.net *(archived by web.archive.org
Lee Byrne at ercrugby.com
1980 births Living people ASM Clermont Auvergne players Bridgend Blue Bulls players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Dragons RFC players Ospreys (rugby union) players Rugby league players from Bridgend Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Bridgend Scarlets players Tondu RFC players Wales international rugby union players Welsh Roman Catholics Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players {{Authority control