Rory Watts-Jones (born 15 December 1988) is a retired

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. A flanker, he played club rugby for

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 ...

regional team. Born and raised in

Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for e ...

, Watts-Jones joined Cowbridge RFC and played for the Wales under-16s team. Having gained a place at the

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

, he joined their rugby club, where he came to the attention of Plymouth Albion R.F.C. coach

Graham Dawe Richard Graham Reed Dawe (born 4 September 1959 in Tavistock) is a former English rugby union footballer and the former coach of Plymouth Albion. He played for Bath Rugby, Sale Sharks, Plymouth Albion and Launceston. Dawe earned 5 caps f ...

. Watts-Jones made his debut from the bench in January 2009, against

Doncaster R.F.C. Doncaster Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club representing the town of Doncaster, England. The first XV are known as the "Doncaster Knights", and play in the RFU Championship. Being the most promoted side in English history has led to ...

in the

EDF Energy Trophy The EDF National Trophy was a cup competition which ran from 2006 to 2009 for the 118 clubs of the Rugby Football Union from National Division One and below. Previously these teams had played in the Powergen Cup, but were excluded from that cup und ...

. Starting 35 games and playing in a further 12 from the bench, he also played for the

Wales Sevens The Wales national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens and in the Commonwealth Games. Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by Engl ...

team.
/ref> Having finished his university course, in June 2011 he joined

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 then graduated to the regional

squad. He made his debut 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 September 2012. In November 2014, whilst playing against

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in the

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

when he scored a decisive try, he suffered a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

related injury. The Blues took Watts-Jones through the WRU defined graduated return-to-play protocol, but noted that he was fairly slow going through the process. His family and girlfriend then noted that his behaviour was different from previous concussive recovery episodes. Referred to a specialist doctor, after further tests Watts-Jones was advised to retire due to a concussion-related injury. On 17 February 2015, the club and Watts-Jones announced his reluctant retirement from rugby, based on medical grounds with regards his long-term health.

References

External links

Cardiff Blues profile
1988 births Living people Alumni of the University of Plymouth Cardiff Rugby players Rugby union players from Cowbridge Welsh rugby union players Rugby union flankers {{Wales-rugbyunion-bio-stub