Tom Prydie (born 23 February 1992) is a Welsh

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. A fullback who can also play on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

, Prydie is the youngest player ever to represent the Wales national team and the youngest player in the history of Europe's top rugby union club competition, the Heineken Cup.

Early life

Born in

Porthcawl Porthcawl (, ) is a town and community on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, west of the capital city, Cardiff and southeast of Swansea. Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the S ...

, a seaside resort near

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

, Prydie primarily played football in his early childhood. He represented his primary school, Nottage, at under 11s rugby, within the Bridgend and District Schools' RU. He played for West Wales A (Under 11s) in their victory over East Wales at Virginia Park, Caerphilly RFC, on 10 April 2003. He made his first ever appearance at the Millennium Stadium on 3 May 2003, when he represented Bridgend Schools' Under 11s v. Cardiff Schools' Under 11s, in the final of the DCThomas Cup.

Club career

His rise to prominence began in summer 2009, when he was noticed by Scott Johnson, the director of coaching for the Ospreys regional team. Prydie was then fast-tracked through the Ospreys age-grade system, and by the end of the year was in the senior side. He made his Ospreys senior debut on 12 December 2009 as a second-half replacement in their Heineken Cup match against

Viadana Viadana may refer to: Surname * Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (c. 1560 – 1627), Italian composer, teacher, and Franciscan friar * Gilberto Viadana (born 1973), Italian figure skater Other * Viadana, Lombardy, a town in the province of Mantua, Lom ...

. This made him the youngest player in Heineken Cup history at age , beating the previous record of Leicester Tigers' Richard Governley by 16 days. In January 2012 it was announced he along with Leicester's Lee Robinson would be joining

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

until the end of the season to cover injured duo Christian Wade and Tom Varndell In May 2012 Prydie joined Newport Gwent Dragons He was released at the end of the 2016–17 season. In May 2017, he left Dragons to join rivals

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 ...

ahead of the 2017-18 season. On 7 December 2021, after his release from Scarlets, Prydie has signed a short-term deal with English Premiership side Bath for the 2021-22 season.

International career

On 18 January 2010 Prydie, aged 17, was a surprise inclusion in the 35-man Wales national squad named for the 2010 Six Nations despite playing just seven minutes for the Welsh region the Ospreys. Despite media speculation that Prydie would be named in the squad, he was still shocked at his selection. He was notified by a text message from Wales national coach

Warren Gatland Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player who is currently in his second spell as the head coach of the Wales national team. As head coach of Wales from 2007 to 2019, he won four Six N ...

only 20 minutes before the public announcement of the squad; he initially thought that the message was part of an elaborate practical joke by some of his Ospreys teammates. At the time of his selection, Prydie had never met or spoken to Gatland. Prydie was named on the wing in the starting team for Wales' final 2010 Six Nations match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and became the youngest

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

in Wales' rugby history. The previous youngest to play for Wales was

Norman Biggs Norman Witchell Biggs (3 November 1870 – 27 February 1908) was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Cardiff and county rugby for Glamorgan. Both Biggs and his brother Selwyn played international rugby for Wales ...

, who was 18 years, 49 days old when he made his debut in 1888 against the New Zealand Natives. Prydie was old at the time of the Italy match on 20 March. Prydie, who by the time of the Italy match had made only two starts and played 167 minutes for the Ospreys senior side, also surpassed

Mathew Tait Mathew James Murray Tait (born 6 February 1986) is a retired English rugby union player who gained 38 caps for between 2005–2010, including starting in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final; and played 279 club games for Newcastle Falcons, Sal ...

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 ...

as the youngest ever to play in the Six Nations. In June 2010 Prydie became Wales youngest try scorer at 18 years and 102 days against South Africa, overtaking the record set by Tom Pearson in 1891. In 2012 Prydie made his debut for the Wales under-20 team in the Junior World Championships, two years after making his debut for the Wales senior team. 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 the ...

32-man training squad for the summer 2013 tour to Japan. His appearance in the second test that year would be his last international appearance for Wales for five years before a surprise recall into the squad in for the

2018 June rugby union tests The 2018 mid-year rugby union internationals (also known as the summer internationals in the Northern Hemisphere) are international rugby union matches that are mostly played in the Southern Hemisphere during the June international window. The ma ...

Wales Summer Tour
/ref> where he made a further two appearances against South Africa and Argentina.

References

External links

Ospreys profileWales profileDragons profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prydie, Tom 1992 births Living people Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of Wales Dragons RFC players Ospreys (rugby union) players Rugby sevens players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Porthcawl Rugby union wings Wales international rugby union players Wasps RFC players Welsh rugby union players Scarlets players Bath Rugby players