Who is Kieran Hardy: Ten things you should know about the Wales scrum-half

Kieran Hardy made his debut for Wales on 18 November 2020 against Georgia in the Autumn Nations Cup and was selected for his first Six Nations start against England in 2001.

While his rugby skill is clear to see, here are some facts you may not know about the Scarlets No 9.

Ten things you should know about Kieran Hardy

1. Kieran Hardy was born on 30 November 1995 in Carmarthen, Wales. He stands at 6ft 1in (185cm) and weighs 14st 9lb (94kg).

2. Hardy has played for two clubs in his professional career: Scarlets and Jersey. He played for Jersey from 2016 to 2018 and has said it was the best thing he ever did as it developed the skills he needed to play for his home region.

He told Rugby World in 2020: “Harvey Biljon saw something in me and gave me the opportunity to continue being a pro at Jersey. Without that I wouldn’t be where I am now.

“When I came back (to Scarlets) from Jersey I was a completely different person, on and off the field. I just had more confidence in my own ability and in general. I was lucky enough to play in a competitive league every week and it was a real learning curve.”

3. He is close to Wales team-mate Callum Sheedy as the pair played together at Jersey and Wales U16. Sheedy was on loan from Bristol Bears in 2017 during Hardy’s time at the club.

Sheedy told The Belfast Telegraph:  “Kieran became my best mate out there. He helped me a lot, and we got to know each other very well.”

4. Hardy was voted Breakthrough Player of the Season in his first back in Llanelli after he scored seven tries in 18 matches.

5. His earliest rugby memory was going to watch his father play at Pontyberem and Hardy went on to play for the club from the ages of five to 16. He wanted to play in the centres, like his dad, but he ended up moving to scrum-half.

Hardy said: “My dad was a scrum-half who ended up in the centres, so I wanted to be a centre growing up. We went opposite ways to each other!”

6. Hardy has claimed he is a good singer and his go-to song is Madonna’s Like A Prayer.

Does Kieran Hardy have children?

7. Hardy has a daughter, Piper, with long-term partner Ellie McLean. McLean has a YouTube channel and Hardy has starred in a video titled ‘Mr and Mrs Q&A’, where the couple reveal they met on Instagram and Hardy is the more affectionate one in the relationship.

8. Growing up Hardy’s favourite player was Scarlets and Wales scrum-half Dwayne Peel, and he worked with him at academy level.

9. During the Covid-19 lockdown, Hardy binge-watched Netflix hit The Last Dance and BBC drama The Fall.

10. Hardy has said that if he could meet anyone dead or alive he would choose boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

He explained: “I watched a lot of boxing growing up and he had this aura, people were drawn to him and to his energy. Just to meet him and feel that would be quite special.”

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