Rhodri Gomer-Davies (born 11 January 1983) is a former

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 who played as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

Professional career

Rhodri signed for

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

in 2003, combining his rugby career with his studies at Loughborough University. His relationship with the club came to an end in January 2007. Following intensive rehab and several operations to a groin injury first sustained in December 2005, his contract was terminated early. Gomer-Davies moved to the Newport Gwent Dragons for the start of the 2007–08 Celtic League season, and spent four seasons at the region. He then signed for the

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

National 7s team in March 2011 on a dual contract with 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 ...

. An injury to his left knee at the beginning of the 2011/12 season was deemed too serious to return to play and his last game was for the Scarlets in an LV Cup game against Leicester Tigers on 15 October 2011.

Television

During his rugby career and upon retiring, he has worked as a pundit, commentator, reporter and presenter for Pro12 and European games. In 2013 he became a roaming sports reporter for Welsh language magazine show

Heno () is a Welsh television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on S4C weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. Various reporters also assist with subject-specific presenting, both in the studio and ...

, producing and reporting on sports events and stories all over Wales. Upon S4C gaining rights to the prestigious

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

coverage in 2014, Rhodri became presenter of the 'Seiclo' series, presenting live outside broadcasts on location all over France. 2019 will be his sixth time presenting the World famous stage race. As a producer, he has been credited with three sports documentaries on S4C. The first 'Medal Aur Owain Doull’ portrayed Olympic gold medal cyclist Owain Doull’s memorable 2016; the second, 'Mr Marathon: Josh Griffiths’ focused on amateur marathon runner Josh Griffiths' incredible World Championships qualifying run at the 2017

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

; and

Geraint Thomas Geraint Howell Thomas, (; born 25 May 1986) is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam , Wales and Great Britain. He is one of the few riders in the modern era to achieve significant elite success as both a tra ...

: 'Vive Le Tour', the story of Thomas's yellow jersey ride at the 2018 Tour de France, told by the Welshman himself.

Personal life

Born at Glangwili General Hospital,

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, ...

, Rhodri was raised on the family farm just outside Ffarmers in the

Elenydd Elenydd () is an upland area of Mid Wales, extending across parts of northern and eastern Ceredigion and Powys between Aberystwyth and Rhayader. Elenydd is also a name given to the medieval commote of Cwmwd Deuddwr which covered approximately ...

Mountains. Having attended the village primary school, he studied at

Lampeter Lampeter (; cy, Llanbedr Pont Steffan (formal); ''Llambed'' ( colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion ...

Comprehensive School, before gaining a 6th form

Carwyn James Carwyn Rees James (2 November 1929 – 10 January 1983) was a Welsh rugby union player and coach. He won two Welsh international caps but is most famous for his coaching achievements with Llanelli, the 1971 British Lions and the Barbarians, with ...

scholarship to

Llandovery College , image = Llandovery College (geograph 5927072).jpg , image_size = , motto = Gwell Dysg Na Golud( here areno riches better than learning) , established = , closed = , type = Independent day and bo ...

in 1999. Following a gap year working at

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, he then won a sports scholarship to Loughborough University in 2002, where he was quickly signed to the Northampton Saints academy.

Charity work

Following a voluntary trip in 2009 to Spring Valley primary school, Nairobi, Rhodri went about organising a charity bike ride around Wales. Over four years, the total raised for various charities was in excess of £100,000. Gomer-Davies married his Primary school teacher fiancé Carys in autumn 2011 at Bethlehem Chapel,

Gwaelod-y-Garth Gwaelod-y-garth ( Welsh for ''Foot of the Garth'') is a village in the community of Pentyrch, Cardiff in Wales. Location Gwaelod-y-garth is located in Taff Valley at the foot of Garth Hill, north of central Cardiff and south of Pontypridd ...

. The couple have now settled in west Wales with their three children.

References

External links

Newport Gwent Dragons profileGuinness Premiership profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomer-Davies, Rhodri 1983 births Rugby union players from Carmarthen Living people Northampton Saints players Dragons RFC players Welsh rugby union players Alumni of Loughborough University Loughborough Students RUFC players Llandovery RFC players Scarlets players People educated at Lampeter School Rugby union centres