**On this day eight years ago, 20th April 2012, Hallam Amos made history – a piece of history that still stands today.** Despite being just 17 years and 208 days old, Amos was given the nod at full-back for Dragons’ Friday night trip to face the Ospreys in Swansea. With that he became the youngest ever starter in a PRO14 match – a record yet to be surpassed – and although the Dragons would go on to lose 31-12, their precocious No.15 didn’t look out of his depth. That bit of history was just one milestone in his rise through the rugby ranks, so we’ve picked out five stats that tell the story of Amos’s career to date. # Youngest man to play Welsh regional rugby – briefly… Around the turn of the decade, Dragons had a slight re-structuring of their academy system, moving their base from Usk to Rodney Parade to be nearer the senior set-up. The outcome was a talented crop of youngsters knocking on the door of the first team, led by Amos. The versatile back impressed coaches during pre-season in the summer of 2011 and was given a taste of men’s rugby when he became the youngest Welsh Premiership player by turning out for Newport against Pontypridd that October. And just a week later it was another first for the teenager born in Stockport but educated at Monmouth School, with a call-up to the Dragons first team for the LV= Cup clash away to Wasps. Starting at full-back, it was a dream Dragons debut as he crossed for a try in a dramatic 30-29 victory at Adams Park and in the process, took the record for the youngest person to play Welsh regional rugby at 17 years and 28 days. That milestone wasn’t to last long however – in fact less than an hour – as team-mate Jack Dixon, three months Amos’s junior, emerged from the bench. One of the more fleeting records achieved! # Youngest PRO14 starter Amos’s next record would last a little longer when, six months later, head coach Darren Edwards handed him the No.15 jersey for the league clash against Ospreys. There was no try-scoring debut this time but the full-back held his own in a typically ferocious Welsh derby to earn further trust from his coaches. It’s telling that no player younger than his 17 years and 208 days has started in the PRO14 before or since, as he took the record from Ospreys’ Kristian Phillips – who was 17 years 250 days when he started against Connacht in May 2008. And it would take a bold coach to throw a player younger than Amos into the lion’s den of the PRO14 in the future. # One of 73 teenagers to play for Wales In almost 140 years of international rugby, just 73 teenagers have played for Wales and Amos joined those ranks in November 2013. Starting on the wing, the speedster got his opportunity against Tonga at the then-Millennium Stadium in a back-three with George North and Leigh Halfpenny. The Dragons man again didn’t look out of his depth and at one point was only denied a try by his right foot narrowly being in touch, although he would have to wait a little under two years for his next Wales cap, which came against Ireland in the summer of 2015. Following that clash, Amos went to the 2015 World Cup and score his first international try against Uruguay – with 22 caps and six Wales tries to his name as of 2020. # 13 offloads in six matches After a few more years with the Dragons, Amos moved to Cardiff Blues ahead of the 2019-20 Guinness PRO14 season. His first season in the capital was proving a fruitful one before the COVID-19 pandemic brought it to a shuddering halt. Showing a skill perhaps honed during a spell playing rugby sevens – which included representing Team Wales at the Commonwelath Games on the Gold Coast in April 2018 – Amos has become an offload machine. His 13 offloads this campaign trail only Zebre’s Giovanni Licata, with the Welshman’s haul coming from just six matches (five starts). He knows how to keep the ball alive in the tackle! # Calling Dr Amos? Perhaps technically not a stat but alongside having a successful rugby career, Amos has also proved adept at multi-tasking. He graduated from Cardiff University in the summer of 2019 with first-class honours in neuroscience BSc) – no mean feat even without a professional sporting career to maintain – and is now looking to follow in the footsteps of Wales teammate Jamie Roberts by becoming a doctor. He is currently studying medicine at Cardiff University School of Medicine, following in the footsteps of both his doctor parents.
