DURING this Six Nations campaign, we have been looking back at some of Pembrokeshire’s Welsh internationals from the very first in 1881, right through to the current squad.

Here we take a look at a few more.

Tal Selley

Western Telegraph: Tal Selley playing for the Dragons against the Scarlets in 2008.

Taliesin Selley was born on April 20, 1980 in Pembroke Dock. He played youth rugby at Pembroke Dock Harlequins.

He played as a centre but could also play on the wing and made 16 appearances for Carmarthen Quins across the 2005/6 and 2011/12 seasons. He also played for Llangwm RFC and Birmingham & Solihull and at Llanelli before regional rugby was introduced.

Since the 2003 inception of regional rugby in Wales, Tal has played for all four of the regions, becoming the first player to do so. He began at the Scarlets where he played for three seasons until 2006. He scored 16 tries in 58 appearances.

He then went to the Ospreys, playing for them during their win against Australia in 2006. He played a total of 11 times and scored one try before being sent out on loan to the Blues.

He joined Cardiff Blues next on loan, scoring four tries in 12 games before returning to the Ospreys and being released. He then joined the Dragons in 2008.

According to the Dragons website, Tal played nine times for the Dragons, scoring one try.

While he only made one appearance for the senior national team – against the USA in Hartford in the summer of 2005, where he scored a try in Wales’ 77-3 win – he had a more successful international career on the sevens circuit.

Between 2005-2009, he played for Wales 7s on the series circuit. He was a member of the Welsh squad that won the World Cup 7s tournament in 2009, where he was named player of the tournament – a feat he told the South Wales Argus ‘trumped’ his Wales cap and beating Australia.

He said: “Winning the final is the highlight of my career. I’ve done quite a lot in my rugby career – I’ve been capped by Wales and beaten Australia with the Ospreys (in 2006) but this beats them all.”

He scored 60 tries for Wales 7s, holding the record for most tries for a Welsh 7s player until he was overtaken by Luke Morgan in 2016.

He has also played for the Barbarians five times between 2005-2011, three times against the Combined Services, once against Bedford Blues and once against Richmond.

Abel Davies

Abel Davies was born in 1861 in Narberth. He played rugby union on the wing.

He played his club rugby for London Welsh, scoring a try against the New Zealand Maoris in their match in 1889.

That same year, he made his only Welsh appearance in a game at St Helen’s against Ireland in the 1889 Home Nations Championship.

Rowland Thomas

Rowland ‘Rowley’ Lewis Thomas was born in Henllan Amgoed on November 7, 1863.

He played for Llandovery College and was a founding member of London Welsh RFC, who he captained.

He represented Wales for the first time in 1889 in the Home Nations Championship against Scotland. He would go on to be capped a total of seven times, playing against Ireland that same year. He played against Ireland again in 1890 and played all three games in the 1891 tournament. He played his last game for Wales against England in the 1892 tournament.

Sam Parry

Western Telegraph: Wales international hooker Sam Parry

Sam Parry was born on December 17, 1991, in Haverfordwest.

He plays rugby as a hooker and began playing for Llandovery RFC. He later moved to the Scarlets in their Under18 team and onto the Dragons Academy.

He made his senior Dragons debut on October 15, 2011, against Bath and played for the region 54 times before moving to the Ospreys in 2014, where he still plays and has currently made more than 100 appearances.

He represented Wales at Under20 level in 2011 before being brought up into the training squad for the 2013 summer tour to Japan and for the 2014 Six Nations but he didn’t play in the games.

He received his first senior Wales cap as a replacement against France in the 2020 Autumn Nations Series.

Currently, he has played for Wales five times, with the aforementioned debut, a try-scoring second appearance – and first start - in the tournament against Italy, a replacement appearance against Scotland in the re-arranged 2020 Six Nations Championship fixture against Scotland, as a replacement against Georgia and coming off the bench against Argentina.

Dai Evans

David ‘Dai’ Evans was born in Maenclochog in 1872 and played rugby for Penygraig.

He was chosen to play for Wales for the first time in the 1896 Home Nations Championship against Scotland. He was one of five new caps to be brought in for the game in the pack, known as the Rhondda Forwards for their big build and rough style of play.

He had his second game in the last match of the tournament, playing against Ireland and would be picked for Wales’ only game in the 1897 Championship. When Wales was reaccepted to the International Rugby Board in 1898, he played in the final match of the tournament against England, which would be the end of his international career.

We will look at more of Pembrokeshire's Welsh internationals next week.

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