Second row Macauley Cook joined Pontypridd RFC for the 2023/24 season from English Championship club Jersey Reds.
Born in Church Village, Macauley moved up into the Rhondda Valley and played his early rugby for Treorchy RFC. Destined for a career in the professional game he was drafted into the Cardiff Blues regional academy and whilst a young fledgling lock played his first ever senior game of rugby for Pontypridd. Macauley made 3 appearances for Pontypridd RFC during the 2009-2010 season whilst attached to the Blues. His 4th appearance for the club, 3 years later was a memorable one when he finished a sweeping team move to score the winning try as Ponty beat London Welsh 29-22 in the British and Irish Cup at Sardis Road in October 2013.
Macauley spent over a decade with the Cardiff Blues before departing across the English Channel to play for Jersey Reds for three seasons prior to joining Ponty in the summer of 2023. His three-year stay in Jersey was a successful one – he won numerous English Championship Player of the Month awards before the pinnacle came in his final season when he contributed to the men from the Stade Santander International ground lifting the English Championship title. If that fantastic team achievement wasn’t enough, to put the icing on the cake on a personal level Macauley was then named in the RFU Championship Team of the Season 2022/23 in May 2023.
