Huw David Richards (born 9 October 1960) is a former Welsh and

Neath RFC Neath Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Castell-Nedd) is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the WRU Championship. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The team is known as the All Blacks because of the team colours: black with onl ...

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 it ...

player. He played in the 1987 Rugby World Cup as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

and became the first player to receive a red card in a

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

tournament.

Biography

Richards was born on 9 October 1960 in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

Huw Richards
''ESPN Scrum''. SFMS Limited. Accessed 8 October 2011. and attended school in

Ystradgynlais Ystradgynlais (, ) is a town on the River Tawe in southwest Powys, Wales. It is the second-largest town in Powys and is in the historic county of Brecknockshire. The town has a high proportion of Welsh language-speakers. The community includes ...

. He is best known for his achievements as a rugby union player.Richards, Huw
An unfortunate claim to fame
''ESPN Scrum''. SFMS Limited. 7 October 2010. Accessed 8 October 2011.

Career

Richards played for

Abercrave RFC Abercrave Rugby Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Rygbi Abercraf) is a Welsh rugby union team from Abercraf, which was founded in 1894. Abercrave currently have a Senior XV who play in the WRU Division Five South West league and is a feeder club for the ...

before moving on to Neath RFC. Neath were a rising force in Welsh rugby in the 1980s, finishing as runners up in the 1984 Welsh Cup final against

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 ...

. From this Richards earned an international call-up, making his debut for the Welsh 'B' team in November of that year. He joined the 1986 tour of the South Pacific and was brought into a game against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

when, after a lengthy brawl, injured flanker Mark Brown had to be substituted. This was the first of four caps that he would earn. Though not given a position as a first team player, Richards was part of the Welsh team at the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987. He was given his first start against Tonga in a pool match after several frontline players were rested but returned to the bench after that game. In the quarter-final against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Richards came on when Bob Norster was injured and he remained as part of the line-up for the semi-final against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The Welsh side were no match for the dominant All Blacks and the game was all but over when Richards became the first player to receive a red card in the tournament. Emerging from a loose scrum, Gary Whetton elbowed Richards face. Richards punched Whetton and was in turn hit by New Zealand number eight Wayne "Buck" Shelford. Richards fell to the floor. After being revived he was sent off by referee Kerry Fitzgerald while Shelford escaped punishment. Richards also received a one-week suspension for his actions and missed the final match of the team's World Cup – the third place playoff against Australia.New Zealand 49 Wales 6
. Welsh Rugby Union. 14 June 1987. Accessed 8 October 2011. After the tournament he could no longer get into the international team but for several years continued to play for Neath.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Huw 1960 births Abercrave RFC players Living people Neath RFC players Rugby union players from Carmarthen Rugby union locks Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players

Biography

Career

See also

References