Stuart Watkins was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 wing who played club rugby for Newport and Cardiff

Cardiff RFC

Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...

.

Watkins began his rugby career at Cross Keys

Cross Keys RFC

Cross Keys RFC is a rugby union club located in the Welsh village of Crosskeys. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons.- History :...

 before switching to Newport in 1963, staying with the club for the majority of his career. In 1970, in a dispute about training, Watkins left Newport to join rival club Cardiff.

International career

Watkins made his international debut for Wales against Scotland on 1 February 1964. Played at the Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...

, it was Scotland's only defeat of the season and would be the key game in Wales winning the championship that year. Watkins would represent his country on 26 occasions, and his most notable game came against France on 26 March 1966. It was the final game of the tournament and Wales were trailing by 8 points to a team they had beaten only once in the last eight encounters. Keith Bradshaw

Keith Bradshaw (rugby player)

Keith Bradshaw is a former international rugby union player. He was capped nine times for Wales, and at club level played for Bridgend.-Rugby career:...

 had dragged Wales back into the game with two penalty goals when Watkins intercepted a French three quarter movement on his own 25 yard line. He raced 75 yards down the right touch line to score a memorable try that not only gave Wales the match but also the championship.

In 1966, Watkins was selected to play for the British Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

 in their tour of New Zealand and Australia

1966 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand

In 1966 the British Lions toured Australia and New Zealand. The Lions won the two test matches against but lost all four internationals against the All Blacks....

. Watkins would play in three of the tests.

International games played

Wales 1966 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970 1967, 1969 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969

British LionsAustralia

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 1966New Zealand 1966, 1966