Scott Quinell, the Scarlets No.8 who said farewell to his fans at Stradey Park on 9th April has played rugby at the highest level representing both Wales and the British & Irish Lions.

Quinnell joined Llanelli RFC aged 18 in 1990 and played for them no less than 146 times in four years, scoring 32 tries.

In 1994, he left rugby union and signed for rugby league club Wigan in a £400,000 transfer. He was capped for Wales in rugby league before returning to union in 1997 with Richmond, and Llanelli again in 1998.

Quinnell's first and last games for Wales were against Canada in 1993 and 2002 respectively. During this nine year period he won 52 caps, scored 11 tries and captained Wales seven times.

He toured twice with the Lions in 1997 and 2001 winning 3 caps and scoring 1 try.

In November 2004 he announced his retirement from professional rugby, and will continue in rugby and at Stradey Park in his role as a coach at the Scarlets.

 
Rob Howley was born in Bridgend in 1970 and later went on to play for his home town club. He is widely regarded as one of the best scrum-halves the northern hemisphere has ever produced.

He made his Wales debut against England at Twickenham in 1996 and went on to gain 59 caps for his country; skippering the national side 29 times.

He was selected for the 1997 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa but suffered a shoulder injury and couldn’t play in the test matches. He played in the first two Tests of the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia before a broken rib ruled him out of the series decider against the Wallabies.

He retired from international rugby in 2002 and joined the London Wasps. His last minute try against Toulouse won them the Heineken Cup in May 2004, but a wrist injury sustained earlier in the 2003-2004 season decided his eventual retirement in November 2004 and he has now taken up a coaching role with the Blues.