Northern | US

Former Wales centre Matthew J Watkins dies aged 41

The late Matthew J Watkins
Comments
Comment

Former Wales centre Matthew J Watkins has died at the age of 41 after a long illness.

ADVERTISEMENT

Watkins, who won 18 caps for Wales between 2003 and 2006, retired in 2011 and was diagnosed with a rare form of pelvic cancer in 2013.

One of his former clubs, Dragons, paid tribute to Watkins in a statement on their website which read: “Everyone at Dragons Rugby is deeply saddened at the passing of our former player Matthew J Watkins.

“Matthew will be missed by so many and our sincere condolences go out to Matthew’s wife Stacey, his sons Sior and Tal, family and friends.”

Former dual-code Wales international Jonathan Davies paid tribute to Watkins on social media.

Davies wrote on Twitter: “RIP Matthew. What a lovely guy who took on cancer with courage and always had a smile on his face. Lived life to the full and was always smiling. Thoughts and prayers are with his family and close friends.”

Wales flanker Dan Lydiate wrote on Twitter: “Gutted to hear the passing of Mj this morning thoughts are with his family class player and one of rugby’s great characters #gonetosoon #ripmate.”

ADVERTISEMENT

https://twitter.com/JiffyRugby/status/1236231272906846218

Get the RugbyPass App 📱

Follow the biggest matches with live scores, line-ups, news and analysis, all in the RugbyPass App.

Download Here
On Apple IOS, Android, and Tablet.
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

N
NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

The Six Nations produced so many compelling games and so much of action packed moments that you can only conclude that its the best international comp out there at the moment except for a world cup. If Wales improve it will be even better especially given the strides Italy have made in recent times. The Rugby Championship is now taking a hiatus in a year it really should be building toward something better which is terrible considering the competition was so tight last year. The Nations Champs promises much but one gets the feeling that the 6 Nations teams will not be at their peak given its at the end of their long season. In terms of rugby quality and entertainment Id rather watch the 6 Nations over everything else other than a world cup right now. The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field. In terms of entertainment the North wins. In terms of winning? They are making strides but until they win another world cup or get a team to rank number 1 again for an extended time again they cant really say they are better than the South.

36 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Close
ADVERTISEMENT
Copied to clipboard

Share Article close