Dai Young

Dai Young

Birth name	David Young
Date of birth	(1967-07-26) 26 July 1967
Place of birth	Aberdare, Glamorgan, Wales
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	18 st 7 lb (117 kg)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Coach Current team Wasps RFC Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1985-1988 1987 1988-1990 1996-2002 Swansea Northern Suburbs Cardiff Cardiff 42 ? 33 106 (4) (?) (12) (20) International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1987–2001 1989 Wales British Lions 51 3 (4) (0) Coaching career Years Team 2003–2011 2011- 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 Cardiff Blues Wasps RFC Barbarians

David 'Dai' Young (born 26 July 1967) is a Welsh former rugby union, and rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, rugby union coach of the 2000s and 2010s, and is currently Director of Rugby at Wasps RFC. A prop, he won 51-caps for Wales, and 3-caps for the British Lions in rugby union, and 14-caps for Wales in rugby league.

Playing career

Born in Aberdare in 1967, Young lived in Penywaun for many years.

He played rugby union at club level for Swansea, and Cardiff. Having not been selected to play for Wales in the 1987 Rugby World Cup, Young, then 19, travelled to Australia for the summer to play for Northern Suburbs. When Stuart Evans broke his foot playing against Tonga, Young was on the right side of the world at the right time and was called up to the Welsh squad. He made his début for Wales against England in the quarter-finals.

He toured Australia with the then British Lions in 1989, playing in all three test matches, with the Lions winning the test series 2-1.

Young moved to rugby league in 1990, signing for Leeds for a then world record of £150,000. He went on to play for Salford, won 14 caps for Wales and captained Wales in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.

Young returned to rugby union and Cardiff in 1996, after rugby union became professional. He won a further 37 caps for Wales, reaching a total of 51, then a record number for a prop. He was selected for a further two British & Irish Lions tours - South Africa in 1997 and Australia in 2001. He is the only player to have toured with the Lions in three separate decades. Young was known as a strong scrummager, with the ability to grip his opponent, keeping him low.

Coaching career

Young became head coach of the Cardiff Blues in 2003, and during his time in charge led the side to the 2008–09 Heineken Cup semi-final and the final of the 2006–07, and 2007–08 Celtic League. In addition, he led to the Blues to the EDF Energy Cup title in 2009 beating Gloucester 50-12 in the final at Twickenham.

In 2011 he resigned and was appointed Director of Rugby at Wasps after payment of a compensation package. In 2017, he led Wasps to a runner-up finish in the Premiership final.

Barbarians

Young was named as head coach for the Barbarians 2008 end of season tour against Belgium, Ireland, and England. During this tour, he led the Baa Baa's to a single victory over Belgium, winning 84–10 in Brussels - the Barbarians lost 39–14 to Ireland and 17–14 to England. Young was again named as head coach for the 2009 end of season tour, where they played England and Australia. On this occasion, he led the team to a 35–26 win over England, but lost to Australia 55–7 in Sydney. In 2011, he coached the team against England and Wales, where the Barbarians won both matches; 38–32 against England and 31–28 against Wales. This led to his reassignment as Barbarians head coach for the match against the British and Irish Lions as part of their 2013 tour to Australia. The Barbarians lost 59–8, their largest deafest to an international side. Ahead of this match, Young also coached the team to a 40–12 defeat by England at Twickenham.

External links

• (archived by web.archive.org) "Dai Young: On making his Wales début in the first ever Rugby World Cup against England in the quarter-finals"