Stephen Leigh Halfpenny

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Leigh made 21 international appearances as a wing before switching to full back (though later appearing in one further game as a wing), being among the very best to represent Wales in that position, not only being a brave defender, but also a swift attacker and a superb goalkicker. He excelled in all three tests for the 2013 Lions in Australia in which he scored 49 points. For Wales he made his debut at the age of 19 years 11 months and has scored 795 points from 94 starts and six matches as a replacement with 15 tries, 78 cons and 188 pens; 52 matches were as a Blues player and then 19 were with Toulon and 28 with the Scarlets, before gaining a cap as an ‘unattached’ player. He attended Pontybrenin Primary and Penyrheol Comprehensive Schools and gained Wales under-16 caps from full back in 2003 and under-18 caps at full back and wing in 2005 and 2006, going on to Swansea College and playing for the Ospreys under-18 side and Wales under-20s in 2008. At club level he made appearances for Neath and Cardiff before he switched to the Blues in 2008 and soon rattled up over 500 points for them and playing one match for the Lions in South Africa in 2009. For the 2014-15 season he signed for Toulon, coming after his 2013-14 season had ended with a dislocated shoulder suffered while playing for Wales against England. He returned to Wales and joined the Scarlets. He was the BBC’s Welsh Sports Personality of the Year in December 2013. For Wales he toured New Zealand in 2010 and Australia in 2013. Another bad injury saw him miss almost the whole of the 2015-16 season. In 2017 he toured (for the third time) with the Lions to New Zealand making four appearances, including one test (rep). His contract ended in France and in September 2017 he returned to Wales and joined the Scarlets. A further concussion against Australia in 2018 caused him to miss the 2019 Grand Slam, but though he played in the World Cup that year he suffered yet another concussion. In 2019 he played for a Wales XV against the Barbarians, but missed the final three Six-Nations matches of 2021 after suffering another concussion against Scotland. Just seconds after the start of the match against Canada at Cardiff in 2021 he was carried off with a serious knee injury and missed the 2021 Autumn internationals and the 2022 Six-Nations, but he eventually returned in October 2022 for the Scarlets and for Wales a month later to gain his 97th cap against Georgia in Cardiff. Another injury kept him out of two Autumn games after selection. His contract with the Scarlets ended in May 2023, but as an ‘unattached’ player he gained his 100th cap for Wales against England in a ‘friendly’ during August 2023 at Cardiff.