Richard Hibbard (born 13 December 1983) is a

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 ...

international rugby player currently playing for the

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

. Hibbard was born in

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

. He’s married with 3 children. A hooker, he started playing rugby at age grade levels at clubs in the town of

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...

, including

Aberavon Quins RFC Aberavon Harlequins RFC (nicknamed "The Mighty Quins") is a Welsh rugby union team located in the Fairfield area of Port Talbot, a few minutes away from the town centre and Aberavon. In 1955, the team gained membership of the Welsh Rugby Unio ...

and

Taibach RFC Taibach Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in Taibach of Port Talbot in Wales, UK. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is also a feeder club for the Ospreys. Taibach RFC were the winners of the inaugural ...

. A former pupil of

Glan Afan Comprehensive School Glan Afan Comprehensive School () was a mixed comprehensive school which served the town of Port Talbot, Wales, and its surrounding areas for 120 years. It was opened in 1896 as Port Talbot Intermediate School under the provisions of the Welsh I ...

, he went on to play at senior level for Taibach,

Aberavon RFC Aberavon RFC ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Aberafan) is a rugby union club located in the Welsh town of Port Talbot, though the club's name refers to the older settlement of Aberavon which lies on the western side of the town. The club was founded in 1876 ...

and

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

before making his name at the Ospreys. He used to play

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 ...

for Aberavon Fighting Irish and made one appearance for Wales A in their 28–18 win over England A in Aberavon in 2003. Hibbard attained his first Wales cap against Argentina in June 2006. Hibbard missed 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 ...

through injury. He was named as part of the Lions squad for the

2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia The 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a rugby union tour during June and July 2013. The British & Irish Lions played ten matches - a three-test series against Australia, and matches against the five Australian Super Rugby sides, a ...

. Winning caps in all three test matches and starting the third and decisive match. On 16 December 2013, it was announced that Hibbard would join

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

in the English

Aviva Premiership 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 ...

on a three-year contract from the 2014–15 season. On 18 December 2017 it was confirmed Hibbard would return to Wales to sign for regional side

on a three-year contract in the

Pro14 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 ...

from the 2018–19 season. In recent times (2021), Richard Hibbard expanded even further than his rugby career, whereby he opened two successful restaurants including The Hideout Cafe at Aberavon Shopping Centre & The Front at Aberavon Beach, Port Talbot.

International tries

References

External links

Gloucester profileOspreys profileWales profile
1983 births Living people Aberavon RFC players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Dragons RFC players Gloucester Rugby players Neath Port Talbot Steelers players Ospreys (rugby union) players People educated at Glan Afan Comprehensive School Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Neath Swansea RFC players Taibach RFC players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players {{Authority control