Wales have competed in the sport of rugby union since their first international in 1881. They take part in the annual Six Nations Championship and have appeared at every Rugby World Cup.
The records listed below only include performances in test matches. The top five are listed in each category (except when there is a tie for the last place among the five, when all the tied record holders are noted).
Team records
Greatest winning margin
# Margin Date Opposing team Result Venue Competition 1 98 26 November 2004 98 – 0 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales 2004 Autumn Internationals 2 91 17 May 1994 102 – 11 Universitario Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal 1995 Rugby World Cup qualifier 3 74 4 June 2005 77 – 3 Rentschler Field, Hartford, United States 2005 Summer Internationals 4 74 26 September 2011 81 – 7 Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth, New Zealand 2011 Rugby World Cup 5 72 19 September 2001 81 – 9 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales 2001 Autumn Internationals
Greatest losing margin
# Margin Date Opposing team Result Venue Competition 1 83 27 June 1998 13 – 96 Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria, South Africa 1998 Summer Tour 2 73 29 November 2025 0 – 73 Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales 2025 end-of-year rugby union internationals 3 57 22 July 1991 6 – 63 Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane, Australia 1991 Summer Tour 4 57 4 June 2007 5 – 62 Twickenham Stadium, London, England 2007 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches 5 54 15 March 2025 14 – 68 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales 2025 Six Nations Championship
Individual career records
Most caps # Player PeriodCapsStartsSubsPosition1Alun Wyn Jones 2006–202315814315Lock2Gethin Jenkins2002–20161299336Prop3George North2010–20241211165Wing/centre4Dan Biggar 2008–20231129220Fly-half5Taulupe Faletau2011–1099910Number 86Stephen Jones 1998–20111048618Fly-half7Leigh Halfpenny2008–2023101956Fullback8Gareth Thomas 1995–2007100946WingMartyn Williams 1996–20121008713Flanker10Jonathan Davies2009–202296915Centre
Last updated: 5 July 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only.
Most points # PlayerPeriodPointsCapsTriesConPenDGPPG 1 Neil Jenkins 1991–2002 1049 87 11 130 248 10 2 Stephen Jones 1998–2011 917 104 7 153 186 6 3 Leigh Halfpenny 2008–2023 801 101 15 81 188 0 4 Dan Biggar 2008–2023 631 112 8 102 120 9 5 James Hook 2006–2015 352 81 13 46 61 4 6 Paul Thorburn 1985–1991 304 37 2 43 70 0 7 Shane Williams 2000–2011 290 87 58 0 0 0 8 George North 2010–2024 235 121 47 0 0 0 9 Arwel Thomas 1996–2000 211 23 11 30 32 0 10 Gareth Thomas 1995–2007 200 100 40 0 0 0
Last updated: 17 March 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.
Most tries # Player PeriodTriesCapsAve.Position 1 Shane Williams 2000–2011 58 87 Wing 2 George North 2010–2024 47 121 Wing/centre 3 Gareth Thomas 1995–2007 40 100 Wing 4 Ieuan Evans 1987–1998 33 72 Wing 5 Josh Adams 2018– 25 73 Wing 6 Colin Charvis 1996–2007 22 94 Flanker 7 Liam Williams 2012–2025 21 93 Fullback 8 Gerald Davies 1966–1978 20 46 Wing Gareth Edwards 1967–1978 20 53 Scrum-half Tom Shanklin 2001–2011 20 70 Centre
Last updated: 11 July 2026. Statistics include officially capped matches only.
Most appearances as captain # Player Period CapsWin %Position1 Sam Warburton2011–201649Flanker2 Alun Wyn Jones2009–202148Lock3 Ryan Jones2008–201333Flanker4 Ieuan Evans1991–199528Wing5 Colin Charvis 2002–200422Flanker Rob Howley 1998–199922Scrum-half7 Gareth Thomas2003–200721Wing8 Dewi Lake2023–20Hooker9 Jonathan Humphreys1995–200319Hooker10 Arthur Gould 1889–189718Fly half
Match records
Most points in a match # PlayerPtsTriesConPenDGOppositionVenueDate 1 Neil Jenkins 30 1 5 5 0 Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso 20 March 1999 2 Neil Jenkins 29 0 1 9 0 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 28 August 19993 Neil Jenkins 28 1 1 7 0 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 21 August 1999 Neil Jenkins 28 1 4 5 0 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 17 March 2001 Gavin Henson 28 0 14 0 0 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 26 November 2004 6 Neil Jenkins 27 0 3 7 0 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 19 February 2000 7 Stephen Jones 26 0 10 2 0 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 19 September 20018 Neil Jenkins 24 0 0 8 0 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 10 November 1993 Neil Jenkins 24 0 0 7 1 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 12 October 1994 Gavin Henson 24 0 6 4 0 The Racecourse, Wrexham 27 August 2003 Leigh Halfpenny 24 2 4 2 0 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 4 February 2018
Most tries in a match # PlayerTriesOpposing teamVenueCompetitionDate1 Willie Llewellyn 4 St. Helen's, Swansea 1899 Home Nations Championship 7 January 1899 Reggie Gibbs 4 National Stadium, Cardiff Test Match 2 March 1908 Maurice Richards 4 National Stadium, Cardiff 1969 Five Nations Championship 12 April 1969 Ieuan Evans 4 Rugby Park Stadium, Invercargill 1987 Rugby World Cup 3 June 1987 Nigel Walker 4 Universitario Lisboa, Lisbon Test Match 18 May 1995 Gareth Thomas 4 Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso Test Match 20 March 1999 Shane Williams 4 Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka Test Match 10 June 2001 Tom Shanklin 4 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 2004 Autumn Internationals 15 November 2004 Colin Charvis 4 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 2004 Autumn Internationals 26 November 2004
Rugby World Cup records
Overall Most appearances at Rugby World Cup 21 – Alun Wyn Jones (2007, 2011, 2015, 2019)
Most Rugby World Cup tournaments 4 – Gareth Thomas, Stephen Jones, Gethin Jenkins, Alun Wyn Jones, George North
Most points at Rugby World Cup 123 – Dan Biggar (2015, 2019, 2023)
Most tries at Rugby World Cup 10 – Shane Williams (2003, 2007, 2011)
Tournament Most points in a tournament 57 – Neil Jenkins (1999)
Most tries in a tournament 7 – Josh Adams (2019)
Match Most points in a match 23 – Dan Biggar vs England (2015), Gareth Anscombe vs Australia (2023)
Most tries in a match 4 – Ieuan Evans vs Canada (1987)
Fastest score at Rugby World Cup 36 seconds – Dan Biggar vs Australia (2019)
Fastest try at Rugby World Cup 2 minutes 8 seconds – Jonathan Davies vs Georgia (2019)
References