Taine Basham

Taine Basham
Full nameTaine Owen Basham
Date of birth (1999-11-02) 2 November 1999 (age 24)
Place of birthPontypool, Wales
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight95 kg (209 lb; 14 st 13 lb)
SchoolAbersychan School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker, Number 8
Current team Dragons
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2017– Dragons 86 (75)
Correct as of 11:24, 6 February 2024 (UTC)
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2018–2019 Wales U20 12 (25)
2021– Wales 17 (15)
Correct as of 20:44, 10 February 2024 (UTC)
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
2018 Wales 2
Correct as of 24 January 2024

Taine Owen Basham (born 2 November 1999) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for United Rugby Championship club Dragons and the Wales national team.

Club career

Basham started out at junior level with Talywain and has been developed in the Dragons Academy. Having played for both Bedwas RFC and Cross Keys RFC in the Premiership, Basham made his debut against Scarlets in January 2018 and went on to make nine appearances in the 2018/19 season. This concluded with Basham being named the Young Player of the Season at the region’s end-of-season awards.[1]

Basham would score his first Dragons try in the defeat to Connacht in November 2018.[2]

Basham began the 2019/20 season in outstanding form, scoring tries in each of his first three starts of the season.[3] This was followed by a first career hattrick in the Challenge Cup victory over Castres.[4] Basham would end the season having scored 9 tries in 20 games.

On 9 October 2021, Basham was named man of the match in the Dragons 35–22 victory over Connacht, their first win at the Sportsground since 2004.[5]

International career

Basham was capped as a Wales under-20 international. He was selected in the senior Wales squad to face the Barbarians in the uncapped international on 30 November 2019.[6] On 5 February 2020 he was called up to the Wales 2020 Six Nations squad,[7] though he did not receive a cap. Basham had to wait until June 2021 to receive his third call to the Wales squad for the tests against Canada and Argentina. Basham made his Wales debut as a replacement in the 68-12 win over Canada, crossing for two debut tries.[8]

During the 2021 Autumn internationals Basham started all four matches for Wales, and was named as man of the match in the final test, a 29–28 win over Australia.[9]

Basham scored his third try for Wales against Ireland in the opening match of the 2022 Six Nations Championship, a game that Wales lost 29-7.[10] After starting the following two matches against Scotland and England, Basham was dropped from the team for the final two matches of the tournament.[11]

Basham was part of the squad for the 2022 Wales rugby union tour of South Africa, and came off the bench in the third test.[12]

After suffering a dislocated elbow while playing for the Dragons, Basham was ruled out of the 2022 end-of-year rugby union internationals.[13]

Career statistics

List of international tries

No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 3 July 2021 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales  Canada 52–5 68–12 2021 July rugby union tests
2 59–5
3 5 February 2022 Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland  Ireland 5–29 7–29 2022 Six Nations Championship

as of 5 February 2022

References

  1. ^ "Taine Basham | Dragons Player".
  2. ^ "Dragons 14-38 Connacht". BBC Sport.
  3. ^ "Taine Basham | Dragons Player".
  4. ^ "Dragon News : Basham treble stuns Castres in Europe".
  5. ^ "Irish hoodoo over - Leinster frustration fuelled Dragons' stunning win in Galway". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Pivac picks his first Wales squad". Welsh Rugby Union. 19 November 2019.
  7. ^ Basham joins Six Nations squad
  8. ^ "Serious Halfpenny injury mars Wales win". BBC Sport.
  9. ^ "Wales 29-28 Australia: Autumn Nations Series – as it happened". the Guardian. 20 November 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Ireland hammer sorry Wales 29-7 in one-sided opener". BBC Sport.
  11. ^ "Twickenham errors behind Basham's Wales omission - Pivac". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Wales dream dashed as South Africa rediscover form in Cape Town decider". the Guardian. 16 July 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Four more Wales players potentially out of Autumn Nations Series". www.rugbypass.com. Retrieved 23 January 2023.

External links