Steven Shingler (born 20 June 1991) is a 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 ...

player for

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the current champions of the RFU Championship but will remain in that league due to ineligibility for promotion to Premi ...

in the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

. His favoured position is

Fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

but he also plays centre and full-back. His older brother

Aaron Shingler Aaron Craig Shingler (born 7 August 1987) is a Wales international rugby union player and former cricketer. His usual rugby position is flanker. Background Born 7 August 1987, Shingler grew up in the west of Wales, attending Pontarddulais Com ...

is a Wales international rugby union player.

Club career

Shingler played youth rugby for Hendy RFC. He also played for Scarlets U18 from 2009 to 2011 and has represented Wales Under-20s at fly-half Shingler made his competitive debut for Llanelli RFC in 2009 against Cross Keys. He played for the Scarlets in four games, two of which were pre-season fixtures against Gloucester and Worcester. He also played for the Scarlets in their LV=Cup games, against Leeds and London Irish, scoring 20 points against the Exiles. During this time he produced some quality displays for the

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 ...

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 ...

. Llanelli director of rugby

Anthony Buchanan Anthony Buchanan (born 30 June 1955 in Ystradgynlais, Wales) is a former rugby union player. A prop forward, Buchanan made his international debut for Wales versus Tonga on 29 May 1987. He played for Wales in the first Rugby World Cup later that ...

described Shingler as a kicker of "international standard". Shingler signed for

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

on a two-year deal, starting in 2011–2012 season. In January 2013 it was confirmed Steven Shingler would rejoin the

for the 2013–14 season In March 2016 it was confirmed Shingler would head east of Llanelli to join rivals

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 ...

for the 2016–17 season, doing a straight swap with

Rhys Patchell Rhys Patchell (born 17 May 1993) is a Wales international rugby union player. A fly-half, he plays for Scarlets having previously played for Cardiff Blues. Early life Educated at Ysgol Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd and at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf. ...

On 8 March 2019, Shingler was granted early release from Cardiff Blues to sign a short-term deal with

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

outfit

Mont-de-Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a commune and capital of the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Population Military installations The French Air and Space Force operates the ''Constantin Rozan ...

in France. On 29 March 2019, Shingler returns to England to sign for

in the

from the 2019–20 season.

International career

Steven Shingler was born in

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 ...

, Wales and represented Wales Under-20's on fourteen occasions. On 17 November 2011 he stated his commitment to break into the Wales senior squad. On 5 January 2012, Shingler was named in the provisional

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 ...

squad for the 2012 Six Nations, based on the fact that his mother was born in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

, Scotland. However, due to his appearances for Wales u-20, the WRU contested this call up, stating that Wales had officially declared their u-20 squad as their second XV at the time, which they understood made Shingler ineligible to represent any country other than Wales under the 'capture' rules. The

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

defended their selection, saying that Shingler had refused to sign a document tying himself to Wales and believed he was eligible to play internationally for Scotland. However the WRU challenged this position, and the IRB ruled that Shingler was only eligible to play for Wales, and not Scotland. In May 2012 an IRB appeal hearing confirmed the earlier ruling that Shingler can only represent Wales. In May 2013 he was selected in the

Wales national rugby union team The Wales national rugby union team ( cy, Tîm rygbi'r undeb cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played thei ...

32-man training squad for the summer 2013 tour to Japan. He was also selected for the full national squad tour to South Africa in June 2014.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shingler, Steven 1991 births Living people Welsh rugby union players Scarlets players Llanelli RFC players London Irish players Rugby union players from Swansea People educated at Pontarddulais Comprehensive School Rugby union centres