Mason Grady (born 29 March 2002) is a Welsh international

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, currently playing for URC side

Cardiff Rugby 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 ...

as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. Grady has represented

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 ...

, making his debut during the

2023 Six Nations Championship The 2023 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland a ...

Club career

Grady signed his first professional contract for Cardiff in September 2020. Grady played in the

Welsh Premier Division The Welsh Premier Division, () known for sponsorship reasons as the Indigo Group Premiership, (''Uwch Gynghrair grŵp indigo'') is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the 1990–91 season. Compe ...

for both

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd) is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after ...

and

Pontypridd RFC Pontypridd Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Pontypridd) are a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. They compete in the Indigo Group Premiership, which they won for four consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2015, and ...

. On his Cardiff debut, he became the second youngest player to represent the club, at 17 years and seven months. He made his Cardiff Blues debut in Round 8 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

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

. Near the end of the season, Grady suffered a serious knee injury, which ultimately ruled him out for a year. Grady began to feature more prominently for Cardiff in the 2022–23 season, following his recovery from the injury. He scored in back to back European fixtures, against Brive and Newcastle, as Cardiff made the knockouts of the 2022–23 Challenge Cup. He was part of the

team which won the 2021–22 Indigo Group Premiership.

International career

Grady has represented Wales U18 and Wales U20. He was selected for Wales U20 while still eligible for the U18 side, playing in the

2020 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2020 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was the 13th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ireland were the defending champions, having won the 2019 Championship with a Gra ...

, until the tournament was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Due to injury, Grady did not participate in the

2022 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2022 Six Nations Under 20s Championship is the 15th Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. England are the defending champions winning all five matches in the last tournement. Participa ...

. Upon returning to fitness, Grady was selected for the 2022 U20 Summer Series. He scored a try against South Africa U20 in the final. On 3 November 2022, Grady was called up by

to train with the squad ahead of the Autumn Nations Series. On 17 January 2023, Grady was called up by Wales again, for the

2023 Six Nations The 2023 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

squad. He made his debut on 25 February 2023, starting at outside centre against England. Grady was selected for the Wales training squad ahead of the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the cou ...

, and came off the bench in the first warm-up match, a win over England.

Personal life

Grady comes from an athletic family. Julie, his mother, played basketball for wales for 20 years and the club side Rhondda Rebels, she also represented Wales once in the Commonwealth Games. His father was a soldier in the 1st queens dragoon guards and has seen active duty on a number of Operational duties across the globe. His brother Ashton has also represented Wales in basketball; his older brother, Cory Allen, is a retired Welsh international, and also played as a centre. Grady himself played basketball, representing Wales U16. Grady attended Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg.

References

External links

*
Cardiff Rugby profileWales profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grady, Mason 2002 births Living people Welsh rugby union players Cardiff Rugby players Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Wales international rugby union players 2023 Rugby World Cup players