Michael John Watkins (born 9 January 1952 in

Abercarn Abercarn is a small town and community in Caerphilly county borough, Wales. It is 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Newport on the A467 between Cwmcarn and Newbridge, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. History An estate at ...

) is a former

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

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 won four caps for as a hooker. He played club rugby for

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

and Newport and county rugby for

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

Rugby career

Watkins played rugby from a young age, and represented several youth and school teams from the Newport area, including Cwmcarn Youth, Gwent Schools and South Monmouthshire Schools. After spending two seasons with Crumlin, Watkins moved to first class team Cardiff. Two years after joining Cardiff, Watkins gained his first Welsh trial in 1977. In 1978, Watkins was selected for the Welsh tour of Australia, though he was not chosen for either of the two tests. Watkins was selected for the Wales B team several times during the 1970s, but did not gain his first full cap until 1984 when he had switched club to Newport. Watkins gained his first international cap in a match against Ireland as part of the

1984 Five Nations Championship The 1984 Five Nations Championship was the fifty-fifth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the ninetieth series of the northern hemisphere rugby un ...

. Watkins did not only represent his country he was also given the captaincy, making him only the fourth Welsh player to be given the captain's role on his debut.Griffiths (1987), pg 4-46. The Welsh and Watkins were victorious, beating the Irish 18-9 at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

. Watkins played a further three games for Wales, all as captain. His final game was against the touring Australian team in 1984 at the

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British E ...

. Watkins resigned from international rugby in 1984, along with past Welsh captains, Eddie Butler and Gareth Davies.Griffiths (1987), pg 4-47. Mike currently lives in Bangkok and has released an autobiography entitled 'Spikey, 2 Hard to Handle'.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Mike 1952 births Living people Barbarian F.C. players Cardiff RFC players Crawshays RFC players Crumlin RFC players Newport RFC players Monmouthshire County RFC players Rugby union players from Abercarn Rugby union hookers Wales international rugby union players Wales rugby union captains Welsh rugby union players