Who is Adam Beard: Ten things you should know about the Wales lock

As Warren Gatland has pointed out, you can’t coach size and Adam Beard excels in that department.

The Ospreys and Wales second-row’s long limbs not only make him effective at winning lineout ball but also a brilliant defender of mauls. Find out more about him here…

Ten things you should know about Adam Beard

1. Adam Beard was born on 7 January 1996 in Swansea. He is 6ft 8in tall and weighs 18st 4lb.

2. He tried a lot of sports when he was younger, including football, basketball and rowing, but he found his niche with rugby.

“My mother tells 
a story about how I used to grab boys and throw them about,” he told Rugby World of his time playing football. “The coaches said, ‘Wrong sport – take him to rugby’.”

3. He has paid tribute to the influence of his PE teacher, Craig Bonell, at Birchgrove Comprehensive School. Bonell would do extra sessions with Beard at lunchtimes.

4. Beard made his Wales debut against Samoa in June 2017 and won all of his first 13 Tests.

Only two players have played more Tests with a 100% win rate – All Blacks Charles Piutau (17) and Corey Flynn (15).

Part of Beard’s winning run included the 2019 Six Nations Grand Slam, when he played in every match.

His first Test defeat came against England at Twickenham in August 2019.

5. He was called up to the British & Irish Lions 2021 squad after Alun Wyn Jones suffered a shoulder injury in the match against Japan.

6. Beard’s older brother, Scott, also plays rugby, for Birchgrove RFC. That’s the club the siblings started out at and Adam has done a spot of coaching there too.

“Scott and I are best mates,” says Adam. “People always say, ‘Did you fight growing up?’ But we never did.”

7. He did a ten-week trade course through the Welsh Rugby Players’ Association, learning about carpentry, plumbing, electrics and so on.

He wants to pursue a “hands-on trade” post-rugby and could team up with his brother, who is a landscape gardener.

8. Beard is engaged to Wales netballer Chelsea Lewis and the couple had their first child, Zac, together in spring 2020.

9. He was part of the Wales squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, although his arrival at the tournament in Japan was delayed.

That was because he was diagnosed with appendicitis before Wales departed and had to have his appendix removed. Once he did arrive, he played in three matches.

10. The players he looked up to as a youngster include Martin Johnson, Victor Matfield and Alun Wyn Jones.

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