Aaron Wainwright

Aaron Wainwright
Full name	Aaron James Wainwright
Date of birth	25 September 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth	Newport, Wales
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	106 kg (234 lb; 16 st 10 lb)
School	Bassaleg School
University	Cardiff Metropolitan University
Rugby union career
Position(s)
Position(s)	Number 8, Flanker
Current team	Dragons
Senior career
Years	Team
2017–	Dragons
	Correct as of 16 March 2024
International career
Years	Team
2018–	Wales
	Correct as of 16 March 2024

Aaron James Wainwright (born 25 September 1997) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a number eight for United Rugby Championship club Dragons and the Wales national team.

Early life

Wainwright originally looked destined for a career in football having been on the books of both Cardiff City and Newport County during his teenage years. He was at Cardiff City from Under 9-16 and was included in the Wales Under 16 football squad.^[1] Wainwright played youth rugby for Whiteheads RFC. Wainwright attended Cardiff Metropolitan University and played in the BUCS Super Rugby tournament.^[2]

Club career

Wainwright made his debut for the Dragons regional team in 2017 having previously played for Newport RFC. The back row completed a clean sweep at the region's end of season awards in May 2019 as he was named the Coaches Player-of-the-Year, Players' Player-of-the-Year and DOSC Player-of-the-Year.

From his new position of Number 8, Wainwright scored against the Ospreys, as the Dragons won the derby 31–20 on 6 March 2021.^[3] His success against regional rivals continued as he touched down twice helping the Dragons beat the Scarlets 52–32 on 25 April 2021.^[4]

International career

Wainwright made his debut for the Welsh national team on 10 June 2018 versus Argentina as a second-half replacement.^[5] He was named on the bench a week prior for the match against South Africa, but did not take to the field.^[6]

He scored his debut international try, on 20 October 2019, as Wales' opening try in the 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter-final against France at the Oita stadium. A foul against him by Sébastien Vahaamahina led to Vahaamahina being sent off. Wales went on to win the match by one point and Wainwright was named Mastercard Player of the Match.^[7]^[8]

Under new Welsh coach Wayne Pivac, Wainwright underwent a shift from blindside flanker to Number 8.^[9] He was named man of the match in the win against Georgia in the 2020 Autumn Nations Series.^[10] He featured twice in the 2021 Six Nations Championship, as Wales won the title and the Triple Crown. Wainwright continued to feature for Wales throughout the 2021 end-of-year rugby union internationals and 2022 Six Nations, primarily at Number 8 but also appearing on the blindside.