![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_CDF_090625_CF_Wales_Rugby_Training_013JPG.jpg\")
Halfpenny is set to make his playing return this weekend(Image: Chris Fairweather\/Huw Evans Agency)<\/p>\nThe Wales legend re-signed for Cardiff in the summer and is now set to represent them for the first time since 2014Halfpenny is set to make his playing return this weekend(Image: Chris Fairweather\/Huw Evans Agency)<\/p>\n
Leigh Halfpenny is set to make his top-flight rugby return this weekend and play for Cardiff<\/a> for the first time in over 11 years.<\/p>\n The Wales legend has recovered from a calf injury and will be named in the squad for the European Challenge Cup home match against Ulster on Saturday. The 36-year-old signed a short term contract with the Welsh region in the summer, initially as a kicking coach, with the intention of also returning to play.<\/p>\n Now, after overcoming the calf injury, Halfpenny has signed a new contract to continue at Cardiff Arms Park as a player-coach.<\/p>\n Halfpenny has joined the squad as a travelling reserve in recent weeks and has now been declared available for Saturday night\u2019s EPCR Challenge Cup clash with Ulster.<\/p>\n Cardiff Rugby coach, Corniel van Zyl, said: \u201cLeigh has obviously spent time helping our kickers and young full-backs during the past two months but has also worked hard to get himself back fit and available for selection.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are blessed to have some quality full-backs at the club but to add Leigh\u2019s experience to the mix is brilliant. He continues to help the young players on a daily basis and gives us another option and further competition.\u201d<\/p>\n During his previous seven-year stint at Cardiff, Halfpenny made 87 appearances, scoring 568 points.<\/p>\n The 36-year-old won both the Amlin Challenge Cup and Anglo-Welsh Cup during that time, while establishing himself as one of the game\u2019s biggest stars.<\/p>\n In an illustrious career, Halfpenny has won 101 Wales caps, appeared in four Lions Test matches and won the Heineken Cup<\/a> during his time with Toulon.<\/p>\n The full-back has previously represented Scarlets<\/a>, Harlequins and Super Rugby side Crusaders. After leaving Harlequins at the end of last season, he was heavily linked with French side Beziers, but chose to return to the Arms Park in a surprise announcement.<\/p>\n After re-signing with Cardiff, Halfpenny said: I\u2019m really grateful for this opportunity \u2013 first to Jockey (then-head coach Matt Sherratt) for bringing me in and to the club for formulising the arrangement.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been fortunate to work as a kicking coach with Wales Under-20s a few years ago and more recently had the privilege of working with the senior team in Japan this summer.<\/p>\n “This is the next step in that journey and I\u2019m really enjoying working with Cardiff\u2019s kickers and their young back-three players. There is so much talent here and if I can help them in any way, passing on my experience then that is great.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cTo be able to play for this club again would mean so much to me, where it all started. It would be a dream to finish my playing career here.\u201d<\/p>\n Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our<\/strong> free daily newsletter here<\/strong><\/a> and our <\/strong>WhatsApp channel here<\/strong><\/a> for all the breaking news.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wales legend re-signed for Cardiff in the summer and is now set to represent them for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[13416,38669,4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-622508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-cardiff-rugby","9":"tag-leigh-halfpenny","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115690565322906604","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}