Player

David Richards - Centre

Swansea
Back
David Richards
Height175
Weight74
Date Of Birth23/05/1954
Place Of BirthCwmgwrach
EducationNeath Grammar School
ClubsSwansea
HonoursWales, British and Irish Lions, West Wales, Wales B
InvitationalFrench Presidents XV, Welsh Clubs XV, Crawshays, Barbarians
David Stuart Richards.
B: 23/5/1954 Cwmgwrach.
Centre/Wing/outside-half.
Clubs: Cwmgwrach, Swansea.
Invitational: Crawshays, Barbarians, French President’s XV, Welsh Clubs XV.
Honours: Welsh Secondary Schools, West Wales, Wales B, Wales, British & Irish Lions.
17 caps: 1979 v F,E; 1980 v F,E,S,I,NZ; 1981 v E,S,I,F; 1982 v I,F; 1983 v E,S,I,Rom(r).
GB: 7 games including 1 test (1 try).
David Richards was a splendid outside half in the traditional Welsh way, yet not one of his caps were gained in that position. Instead, he played at centre on 15 occasions and astonishingly was picked as a wing against Ireland in 1981 and was a replacement for Malcolm Dacey in Bucharest against Romania in his last appearance. He scored splendid tries with great and exciting pace against England in 1979, both France and Scotland in 1980 and a glorious score in the 1981 match in Paris. The try against Scotland came when he had switched to outside half as Gareth Davies had retired injured. He played seven times, including one test, for the Lions in South Africa in 1980; scored a try for a World International XV against France in Paris in October 1977 and made a debut for the Barbarians against Leicester in 1976, while he was the Welsh Rugby Annual’s Player of the Year in 1980. For his club Swansea he played 305 times from 1972-73 until 1985-86, being skipper in 1981-82, 1982-83 and 1983-84, scoring 485 points including 112 tries. He toured with Wales to Australia in 1978; played for Swansea against Australia in 1975, against Fiji in 1973 and 1985, the Maoris in 1982 as captain and New Zealand in 1980. He also played for Crawshay’s Welsh; the Barbarians against the Lions at Twickenham in 1977 and West Wales against New Zealand in 1978. From Neath Grammar School he gained Wales Secondary School caps against Yorkshire, Wales Youth, England and France in 1972 and all four again, plus Scotland, in 1973. He then studied at Cardiff College of Education, whom he captained in 1975-76, playing club rugby first with Cwmgwrach and later gained a Wales ‘B’ cap. Firstly a schoolmaster, he began his own company, County Leasing and Finance, which was taken over by the BJ Group. He became a Wales Selector and now lives in Porthcawl. He is currently working as manager for Mann Island Finance in Swansea.

Thanks to rugby historian Howard Evans for this player profile.
SEASON P W D L TRY CON PEN DG PTS
1972-1973 4 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 4
1973-1974 15 10 1 4 3 0 0 0 12
1974-1975 15 9 0 6 6 0 0 0 24
1975-1976 17 11 0 6 7 1 0 4 42
1976-1977 22 17 0 5 11 1 1 1 52
1977-1978 22 20 0 2 5 0 0 4 32
1978-1979 26 17 2 7 11 0 0 0 44
1979-1980 26 24 0 2 10 0 0 1 43
1980-1981 28 23 1 4 17 0 0 0 68
1981-1982 20 18 0 2 10 0 0 0 40
1982-1983 26 23 0 3 8 0 0 0 32
1983-1984 29 19 0 10 10 0 0 0 40
1984-1985 24 16 1 7 5 0 0 0 20
1985-1986 34 20 1 13 11 0 0 0 44
TOTAL 308 231 6 71 115 2 1 10 497