Welsh Regions Signings/Departures/Rumours so far (A King and Lion heading to the Scarlets?)

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Cardiff Blues

In

Jason Tovey (Newport Gwent Dragons)- Confirmed
Lou Reed (Scarlets) -Confirmed
Robin Copeland (Rotherham Titans)- Confirmed
Benoit Bourrust (Perpignan)- Confirmed
Campese Ma'afu (West Habour)-Confirmed
Andy Kyriacou (Ulster) -Confirmed
Phil Davies DOR (Worcester)- Confirmed
Gerwyn Price (Cross Keys) - Rumour
Rob Lewis (London Welsh)-confirmed





Out

Gethin Jenkins (Toulon) -Confirmed
Martyn Williams -Retiring - Confirmed
Rhys Thomas (Wasps)- Confirmed
Dan Parks (Connacht) Confirmed
Casey Laulala (Munster)- Confirmed
Deiniol Jones -Retiring -Confirmed
Paul Tito- Released - confirmed
Manna Molitika -Retiring- Confirmed
Ben Blair (Agen)- Confirmed
John Yapp (Edinburgh) Confirmed
Richie Rees (Edinburgh)-Confirmed
Ryan Tyrell (Melbourne Rebels)-Confirmed
Xavier Rush (Retiring/Defence Coach) - Confirmed


Scarlet's

In


Lewis Rawlins (Cross Keys) - Confirmed
Barry Davies ( Ospreys) - Rumour
Jason Eaton ( Hurricanes)- Rumour
Adam Byrnes ( Melbourne Rebels) -Rumour
Manuel Carizza (Biarittz)- Rumour
Kristian Phillips (Ospreys) - Confirmed
Davit Zirakashvili (Clermont Auvergne)- Rumour
Danny Wilson (Newport Dragons-forwards coach)- Confirmed
Daniel Carpo (RC Timisoara, Romania) - Rumour
Joe Tuineau (Montpellier) -Rumour
Cambell Johnstoe (Biarritz)- Rumour
George Earle ( Cheetahs) - Confirmed
Simon Easterby (New DOR) - Confirmed
Richard Kelly (Ospreys) - Confirmed
Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys) - Rumour
Gavin Henson (Unattached) - Rumour
Tomas Vallejos Cinalli (Harlequins) - Confirmed
Pat ciliers (Lions) - Rumour
Gareth Owen (Ospreys) - Confirmed

Out

Ben Morgan (Gloucester)- Confirmed
Steven Jones (Wasps)-Confirmed
Dominic Day (Bath) Confirmed
Lou Reed (Cardiff Blues) -Confirmed
Dan Evans ( Dragons) - confirmed
Rhys Thomas Retiring- Confirmed
Iestyn Thomas (Retiring/Dragons forwards coach) - Confirmed
Simon Gardiner- (Rotherham Titan) - Confirmed
Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) -Confirmed
Damien Welch (Exeter Chiefs)- Confirmed
Vernon Cooper (Forwards Coach) - Confirmed
Garin Jenkins (scrummaging Coach) - Confirmed
Nigel Davies (Gloucester -DOR) - Confirmed
Andy Fenby (Newcastle) - Rumour (signed new contract)
Matt Gibert - (Mogliano,Italy) - Confirmed
Liam Davies - Released - Confirmed
Mark Jones (Gloucester - Skills Coach)- Rumour


Newport Gwent Dragons

In

Dan Evan (Scarlets) -Confirmed
Peter Grant (stormers) - Rumour
Tom Prydie (Ospreys)- Confirmed
Iestyn Thomas (forwards coach/scarlets) - Confirmed
Ian Nimmo (Cornish Pirates) -Confirmed
Tim Ryan (Cavalieri Prato) - Confirmed
Rhys Downes (Pontypridd) - Confirmed
Josh Tyler (UWIC) - Confirmed
Stewart Maguire (Connacht) - Rumour
Hywel Stoddart (Newport RFC) - Confirmed

Out

Jason Tovey ( Cardiff Blues)-Confirmed
Aled Brew (Biarritz)- Confirmed
Tom Willis (Retired)- Confirmed
Ben Castle (Retired)- Confirmed
Martyn Thomas (Gloucester) -confirmed
Luke Chateris (Perpignan) -Confirmed
Hugh Gustafson- Released- Not confirmed
Rhys Buckley- Released- Confirmed
Nigel Hall- Retired- Confirmed
Hugo Ellis- Released- Confirmed
James Leadbeater- Released- Confirmed
Mathew Jones (Bristol) -Confirmed
Tom Riley- (Cornish Pirates)- Confirmed
Lloyd Burns- Retired- Confirmed
Danny Wilson (Scarlets) - Confirmed
Gavin Thomas- Retired - Confirmed
Scott Morgan -Released - Confirmed
Trystan Davies (Carmarthen Quins) - Confirmed


Ospreys

In

Steve Tandy (Bridgend RFC)
Sam Lewis (Swansea RFC)
Sam Davies (Swansea RFC)
Shaun Connor ( Dragons - Ospreys Academy Coach)
Jonathan Spratt ( London Irish) - Confirmed


Out

Tommy Bowe (Ulster)- Confirmed
Sean Holley (Released)
Scott Johnson (SRFU)
James Goode (Newcastle Falcons)-Confirmed
Shane Williams (Mitsubishi Dynoboars )-Confimed
Huw Bennett (Lyon) -Confirmed
Nikki Walker (Worcester Warriors) -Confirmed
Dan Bigger (Racing Metro) -Rumour
Cai Griffiths (London Irish) -Confirmed
Barry Davies released - Confirmed
Chauncey O'Toole- Releases - Confirmed
Sonny Parker- (London Welsh) -Confirmed
Mefin Davies- Retiring- Not Confirmed
Tom Prydie (Dragons)- Confirmed
Will Taylor (Wasps)- Confirmed
Kristian Phillips (Scarlets) -Confirmeed
Rory Pitman (South Wales Scorpions)-Confirmed
Paul James (Bath) - Confirmed
Gareth Owen - Released - Confirmed
Stefan Watermeyer- Released - Confirmed
Craig Cross- Released - Confirmed
Dai Flanagan - Released - Confirmed

The Scarlets fans are probably still in denial

same news coming from the other side of the bridge too:

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Gloucester-Rugby-Davies-step-closer-Kingsholm/story-16183289-detail/story.html

LLANELLI are thought to have failed in their bid to keep Nigel Davies at the Scarlets – paving the way for his move to Kingsholm.

The Citizen understands Davies has rejected Llanelli's offer of improved contract terms, and that should set the ball rolling on his expected Gloucester move.

The Scarlets have held talks with their head coach this week, keen to keep him at Llanelli.

But now the Welsh region's bosses have been unable to convince him otherwise, the 29-cap Wales centre is expected to be installed at Kingsholm as Gloucester's replacement for Bryan Redpath.

The next step in the process is likely to concern compensation for Llanelli, with Davies under contract at Parc y Scarlets.

Gloucester managing director Ken Nottage has already confirmed that the Cherry and Whites would be happy to negotiate their eventual target's release from an existing contract.

And it seems that stage of the recruitment process could be under way shortly.

It is thought Gloucester would have to pay a fee in the region of £100,000 to buy Davies out of his Scarlets contract.

The Cherry and Whites have always planned to have their replacement for Redpath secured by the end of the month.

Gloucester have been pleased with progress at every stage of their search for a new coach, and should now be entering the final steps.

Davies was assistant Wales coach under Gareth Jenkins, and was even caretaker coach for one match when Jenkins left his post after the 2007 World Cup.

The former Llanelli centre has been head coach at the Scarlets since 2008, ushering through a host of home grown stars and this season his side were just three points shy of the Rabo Direct Pro 12 play-offs.

The 47-year-old has had a huge influence on the likes of Wales stars Rhys Priestland, George North and Jonathan Davies – not to mention new Gloucester recruit Ben Morgan.

Wales wing North yesterday admitted losing Davies would be a blow to the Scarlets.

North explained: "He's backed me from the word go and he saw something in me when I was with the academy and gave me a chance.

"He thought there was something in me that could be turned into a Test player so it's been great for me to have that support.

"One of the big things he's taught us down the Scarlets is to play what you see in front of you.

"Obviously we have patterns of play and set moves but he's taught us to play what you see with the ball in hand.

"What he's really reinforced to the boys is that you can be coached as much as you want but you will see the gaps and holes on the pitch and you have to have the confidence to take them.

"It's not about what is in a book or on the play sheet, it's teaching the boys to take the responsibility for themselves.

"There's no doubt it would be a big loss for the region if he left."

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:Yeah cos its such a shock and blow what with Griffiths being such an integral part of the current Welsh squad.

Has he been capped, cos one report says he's English qualified to, are they that desperate for t/heads. Surely not

Apparently the EQ thing was part of Dom Day's decision to leave the Scarlets for Bath. So maybe they have seen Ben Morgan doing well here and decided to invest in possible internationals.

SS,

If that is thecase then someone down at the O's need to stand up and take a bow, anyone who can pass Cai Griffiths off as International (possible or anything else) is bloody good.

Scarlets should be getting 200,000 grand in compensation for Morgan and Davies from Gloucester then. Not bad. I always thought Nige would have stayed put though.

Morgannwg wrote:Scarlets should be getting 200,000 grand in compensation for Morgan and Davies from Gloucester then. Not bad. I always thought Nige would have stayed put though.

200,000,000

WOW,

I think the Scarlets might aswell just buy the All Blacks next season.

Maths was never your strong point was it?

Morgannwg wrote:Maths was never your strong point was it?

200,000 GRAND.

1 grand = £1000

Therefore, 200,000 Grand = £200,000,000

English never was your strong point was it.

Im sure you could buy the entire All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies squad for 200million and have them play for several seasons.

Missing the point guys. This news sucks. I just hope that the current way of thinking at PYS doesn't go with him.

So who's the next for the hot seat? Probably the best about is Lyn Jones but I can see a personality problem there. Apart from that I can't think of many. Mark Ring? Hmmmm

I'm personally not that disappointed to see the back of Nige. I thought it was a step backwards appointing him in the first place and seeing as he's not managed to bring in one trophy in four years of having a talented squad at his disposal I have had no reason to change my opinion.

The important thing is that he's replaced well, with a coach with a proven track record or proven methods rather than the shambles Davies had as Wales assistant. And pick the best available, don't obsess with whether he's Welsh or not.

A squad he has built to be fair and consider where we were at 3 years ago or even prior to that with Gallacher at the helm. He's better than he's given credit for. Nige that is, not Gallacher.

Knowsit17 wrote:I'm personally not that disappointed to see the back of Nige. I thought it was a step backwards appointing him in the first place and seeing as he's not managed to bring in one trophy in four years of having a talented squad at his disposal I have had no reason to change my opinion.

The important thing is that he's replaced well, with a coach with a proven track record or proven methods rather than the shambles Davies had as Wales assistant. And pick the best available, don't obsess with whether he's Welsh or not.

With all things considered, I think Nige has done a fine job overall and the squad of players has never been the "finished article" as Dai Young used to say.
Trophies are merely the icing. Getting the cake right is the most important bit and I think Nige was/is close to doing that.

Totallybiasedscarlet wrote:A squad he has built to be fair and consider where we were at 3 years ago or even prior to that with Gallacher at the helm. He's better than he's given credit for. Nige that is, not Gallacher.

Before knocking Gallagher to much you may want to consider if the Scarlets would exist as a region without his efforts, the original plan was for the Scarlets to be combined with Swansea which would undoubtedly left us in the position Neath are in now. Parc Y Scarlets would never have been built.

Totallybiasedscarlet wrote:A squad he has built to be fair and consider where we were at 3 years ago or even prior to that with Gallacher at the helm. He's better than he's given credit for. Nige that is, not Gallacher.

Agree with that.
Nige helped steer the Scarlets out of the doldrums and conjured up the feel good factor which for me is more important than any trophy.
But don't get carried away with this romantic stuff. We all have our financial problems and they need to be addressed.

the fact that glaws apprently are going to significantly improve his salary (approx £80,000) and pay £100,000 compensation proves that he must have been doing something right at the scarlets. i think nigel has a few short coming as a manager but over all he's been good to us, and probably will continue to improve at glaws. the new manager i assume will be easterby? hopefully he will continue the good team spirit within the club, rectify the basic handling errors thats crept into our game recently, get us to learn the ability to close out tight games and to get our pack functioning. saying all this it's still not confirmed nigel is leaving, hopefully it will soon one way or the other. cause we really need to start preparing for pre season, recruitment etc with or without nigel.

Gareth Jenkins is still hanging around!

wales606 wrote:

Morgannwg wrote:Maths was never your strong point was it?

200,000 GRAND.

1 grand = £1000

Therefore, 200,000 Grand = £200,000,000

English never was your strong point was it.

I was thinking 'grand' just as I finished the zero's and what do you know... I'm sure you could have worked out (like we all did) what 100,000 + 100,000 is.

Morgannwg wrote:

wales606 wrote:

Morgannwg wrote:Maths was never your strong point was it?

200,000 GRAND.

1 grand = £1000

Therefore, 200,000 Grand = £200,000,000

English never was your strong point was it.

I was thinking 'grand' just as I finished the zero's and what do you know... I'm sure you could have worked out (like we all did) what 100,000 + 100,000 is.

I was assuming you would understand I was joking, I don't think Gloucester have 200mil to spare

Morgannwg wrote:

wales606 wrote:

Morgannwg wrote:Maths was never your strong point was it?

200,000 GRAND.

1 grand = £1000

Therefore, 200,000 Grand = £200,000,000

English never was your strong point was it.

I was thinking 'grand' just as I finished the zero's and what do you know... I'm sure you could have worked out (like we all did) what 100,000 + 100,000 is.

We know. 606 simply jumped on the opportunity to have a laugh at your expense.

Cardiff Dave wrote:

Morgannwg wrote:

wales606 wrote:

Morgannwg wrote:Maths was never your strong point was it?

200,000 GRAND.

1 grand = £1000

Therefore, 200,000 Grand = £200,000,000

English never was your strong point was it.

I was thinking 'grand' just as I finished the zero's and what do you know... I'm sure you could have worked out (like we all did) what 100,000 + 100,000 is.

We know. 606 simply jumped on the opportunity to have a laugh at your expense.

Just some banter

I knew you were joking, but you still made me look like a Tinkywinky. I just had to drag someone else down with me .

Morgannwg wrote:I knew you were joking, but you still made me look like a Tinkywinky. I just had to drag someone else down with me .

Cardiff Dave wrote:

Knowsit17 wrote:I'm personally not that disappointed to see the back of Nige. I thought it was a step backwards appointing him in the first place and seeing as he's not managed to bring in one trophy in four years of having a talented squad at his disposal I have had no reason to change my opinion.

The important thing is that he's replaced well, with a coach with a proven track record or proven methods rather than the shambles Davies had as Wales assistant. And pick the best available, don't obsess with whether he's Welsh or not.

With all things considered, I think Nige has done a fine job overall and the squad of players has never been the "finished article" as Dai Young used to say.
Trophies are merely the icing. Getting the cake right is the most important bit and I think Nige was/is close to doing that.

Sorry but "trophies are icing" is loser-talk. If they are then Wales' three Slams don't mean nearly as much as we'd like to think. Fortunately that is not the case, because being the best some years does have more meaning to it than icing.

Granted Davies might not be the worst at player-development. An academy or assistant role might have been more befitting for his qualities but analyzing the man and his results, he certainly doesn't strike me as a leader or good man-manager. When's the last time a squad under Nige actually won anything? Results don't lie, which is why I'm firmly against the idea of him ever being involved in a key Wales role again.

Gallacher was not the only person at Stradey Park who put in an effort to transform Llanelli RFC into a region - he was however responsible for tying Phill Davies' hands and saddled us with some grud-awful signings (and some distinctly shady shenanigans around Stradey Park) and nearly drove us into the financial abyss making us a laughing stock and p-poor on the pitch. So forgive me my one little bit of venom for that dwarf chucker.

Nige and the board have turned the ship around since those days and got us on the right track. Like I said Nige is better than he's given credit for. He was derided at the start of his tenure but has brought us back to being at least competitive with an effective grow your own policy. Yeah he's got his faults but some people on here are ridiculous in their criticism. Blydi armchair pundits! My disappointment is that if Nige leaves it's with the job half done. I would never have expected him to go for the money but there we are.

So if he's off, who's next for the hotseat? I can only hope the board treat this with the utmost of care because the recent improvement is fragile. The wrong direction now could put us back years.

Knowsit17 wrote:

Sorry but "trophies are icing" is loser-talk.

No it isn't.
There are many good club sides far better than the Scarlets who haven't won anything this season or the last and won't next season either.

Maybe so but that's not an excuse. At this level trophies are the goal and not something superficial on the side. If you're not in it to win then you might as well go and play for a pub side. I'd personally be dismayed if the whole of Wales had this attitude that trophies are merely a compliment to your efforts. They're the way of proving you were the best some years, like it or not. We wouldn't be able to bask in the glory of the recent GS's if this wasn't the case or do those Slams not make you shake with pride inside?

Knowsit17 wrote:I'm personally not that disappointed to see the back of Nige. I thought it was a step backwards appointing him in the first place and seeing as he's not managed to bring in one trophy in four years of having a talented squad at his disposal I have had no reason to change my opinion.

The important thing is that he's replaced well, with a coach with a proven track record or proven methods rather than the shambles Davies had as Wales assistant. And pick the best available, don't obsess with whether he's Welsh or not.

That's a ridiculous comment.

When Nige took over (as has been said) we were crippled with debt because of Gallaghers poor management with an average squad filled with Phil Davies' poor and expensive signings and no money to sign anyone. Nige and Gypo managed to get rid of the pap but had to ramp up the academy hugely, while blooding youngsters and developing players to compete against far more experienced and bigger squads, all with a handful of current internationals on their books. They then went from a team loosing every HEC group game and finishing bottom but one in the league and scraping into the HEC because of the Blues Amlin win to being a few points from qualifying for the knockouts this season (claiming Saints, Perpignan, Castres, London Irish & Brive scalps along the way) and finishing a few points off the playoffs with a homegrown squad and without a competitive front 5 (loosing D Jones, Iestyn & Rhys Thomas to retirement) and playing some of the most attractive rugby in Europe while also severely cutting costs so we are in line to break even (as opposed to being hugely in debt and finishing bottom of the league).

But you're right all that is quite pathetic as he hasn't been able to better all the much bigger, more expensively assembled squads full of experienced internationals out there (like Munsters, Leinsters, Ospreys ect)

:facepalm!

I can only repeat, what has he ever won? I think you'll find the answer is little or nothing. You can rant all you want about the talent he has supposedly developed at PYS, as I said he deserves some credit for that, but you'll also find that development is only one aspect of a coach's position. There is more entailed, namely winning competitions and as far as I'm concerned Nige has failed to achieve this in four years of trying.

Back when the Scarlets crisis talks began they reached the HC semis and finished 4th in the ML the same season and on the same money as now. Has Nige managed to replicate this sort of success? No and with arguably a better side.

Throughout Nige's tenure the Scarlets' play has varied from poor to average to occasional spurts of brilliance, never sustained for long. That's major inconsistency we're talking. There are some performances from the Scarlets under Nige that have made me positively cringe, the most recent being the Munster draw where they played like headless chickens most of the game and failed to capitalize on a number of opportunities.

This just goes to add weight to my point that when it comes to motivating the players Nige comes up well short. He's not a good man-manager and probably not too bright in terms of tactics. His stint with Wales would indicate as much.

So I say good riddance he's off. Oh, and the bottom but one finish was during Nige's tenure, not before.

Knowsit17 wrote:I can only repeat, what has he ever won? I think you'll find the answer is little or nothing. You can rant all you want about the talent he has supposedly developed at PYS, as I said he deserves some credit for that, but you'll also find that development is only one aspect of a coach's position. There is more entailed, namely winning competitions and as far as I'm concerned Nige has failed to achieve this in four years of trying.

Back when the Scarlets crisis talks began they reached the HC semis and finished 4th in the ML the same season and on the same money as now. Has Nige managed to replicate this sort of success? No and with arguably a better side.

Throughout Nige's tenure the Scarlets' play has varied from poor to average to occasional spurts of brilliance, never sustained for long. That's major inconsistency we're talking. There are some performances from the Scarlets under Nige that have made me positively cringe, the most recent being the Munster draw where they played like headless chickens most of the game and failed to capitalize on a number of opportunities.

This just goes to add weight to my point that when it comes to motivating the players Nige comes up well short. He's not a good man-manager and probably not too bright in terms of tactics. His stint with Wales would indicate as much.

So I say good riddance he's off. Oh, and the bottom but one finish was during Nige's tenure, not before.

Some perfectly good points but your interpretation of Nige's tenure is harsh. Sure in his 1st year we found ourselves at the bottom of the pile - and this is my point - he was derided then and has always since been mocked. However we've improved season on season. Yeah - so we haven't won anything in a while, but then we were a helluva long way off when he came in. Under his tenure we've come on a long way and got the off the field stuff sorted out. I'm disappointed he's going with the job half done and just hoping we get the next appointment right.

So in short - yeah you're right about a lot of stuff, but you're missing or undervaluing a lot of other stuff too.

Knowsit17 wrote:I can only repeat, what has he ever won? I think you'll find the answer is little or nothing. You can rant all you want about the talent he has supposedly developed at PYS, as I said he deserves some credit for that, but you'll also find that development is only one aspect of a coach's position. There is more entailed, namely winning competitions and as far as I'm concerned Nige has failed to achieve this in four years of trying.

So any coach, and any team, that doesn't win one of the limited number of trophies on offer, has failed? That is a very narrow way of looking at sport, whether it is professional or not. I suppose you can think about things like that, but I reckon if most people involved in professional rugby shared your outlook there would be no professional game as most of them would have retired in despair.

I reckon Davies has done a decent job. Now he gets to manage a strong, but underperforming, squad with fewer financial constraints. It will be very interesting to see how he does.

Knowsit17 wrote:I can only repeat, what has he ever won? I think you'll find the answer is little or nothing. You can rant all you want about the talent he has supposedly developed at PYS, as I said he deserves some credit for that, but you'll also find that development is only one aspect of a coach's position. There is more entailed, namely winning competitions and as far as I'm concerned Nige has failed to achieve this in four years of trying.

Back when the Scarlets crisis talks began they reached the HC semis and finished 4th in the ML the same season and on the same money as now. Has Nige managed to replicate this sort of success? No and with arguably a better side.

Throughout Nige's tenure the Scarlets' play has varied from poor to average to occasional spurts of brilliance, never sustained for long. That's major inconsistency we're talking. There are some performances from the Scarlets under Nige that have made me positively cringe, the most recent being the Munster draw where they played like headless chickens most of the game and failed to capitalize on a number of opportunities.

This just goes to add weight to my point that when it comes to motivating the players Nige comes up well short. He's not a good man-manager and probably not too bright in terms of tactics. His stint with Wales would indicate as much.

So I say good riddance he's off. Oh, and the bottom but one finish was during Nige's tenure, not before.

So by your standards the majority of the Pro12 coaches (Munster, Ospreys and Leinster excepted) and the majority of the AV coaches should be sacked as their doing a terrible job and haven't won anything - you must think Exeter and Edinburgh have had awful seasons this year and seriously need to look at their management!

I still fail to see how you can expect a squad comprising of cheaply assembled youngsters, still learning their trade (with Lamont, Wellies and Iestyn the only noteable experienced players) who weren't even internationals until Nige (and Gareth J) developed them - and they after they got called up, we had to do without the majority of our backline and 2 hookers for half the season. Yet you expect them to challenge Leinsters squad crammed full of some of the best foreigners in the Pro12 and full of great Irish internationals (or the Ospreys squad who at one point had more internationals on the bench than we had in our squad).

What has been happening however is that Nige has been improving the squad and performances year on year, bringing through wave upon wave of exciting youngsters and improving players like R Thomas, Fenby, Morgan, Lamont and even Liam Davies. All on a shoestring budget with no expensive NWQ players - I'd be very suprised if the wage bill was anything like the wage bill when Phil Davies was in charge (as at that point our debts were spiralling and we had lots of overpriced rubbish NWQ players) while this season our only 3 main NWQ players are cheaply acquired Timani and Morgan and Lamont. The rest are youngsters and R Thomas and Wellies

The Scarlets Fever board seems alive with rumours that we're going for Eaton and Carizza (both are rumoured to be looking for a move to Europe) and other rumour (on the board) is that we're in talks with Carizza and Campbell Johnson.

Just rumours but fingers crossed

think nigel did well to bring through the youngsters, but then he had little choice as there was no alternative. i think our smart recruitment of players like ben morgan is more gypo's (gareth jenkins) doing who is head of recruitment. i do feel for nigel slightly as i always felt during his regin (if he is going) that he had one hand tied behind his back. however there were short comings in is tatical nous which were demonstrated in games such as brive away and the saint LVC. either way if he does go, then I'd thank him for all he's done for us and wish him all the best with glaws in the future ( apart from when they are playing us)

priest:

yeah it's in the rugby paper today that we are after two former all blacks. the campbell johnstone is nearly a done deal, and it's just the formalities of the paperwork. with jason eaton it's we have our eye on him, and he wants to come to europe. the carizza rumour has died down recently, but he has still not signed for anyone else since being released. earle, johnstone, carizza and eaton would be amazing! although probably could still do with another prop

So by your standards the majority of the Pro12 coaches (Munster, Ospreys and Leinster excepted) and the majority of the AV coaches should be sacked as their doing a terrible job and haven't won anything - you must think Exeter and Edinburgh have had awful seasons this year and seriously need to look at their management!

Many of these other clubs aren't my concern. Out of all those I follow the Dragons have Darren Edwards, who has only been in charge since last year and at any rate doesn't have the same expectation on him, and the Blues have B & B, who I already don't rate highly, though I do hope Phil Davies can pull them together next season. And of course there's Tandy who has thus far made a sensational impact at the Liberty (fingers crossed for this afternoon).

TBS, you're right, I was being over the top with my criticism, I was just trying to get a point through. I really do rate some of what Nige brings to the table, I just don't see him as a head coach figure. Realistically he should probably be closer to GJ's position on the recruitment team than the top desk.

pioden gorllewin wrote:think nigel did well to bring through the youngsters, but then he had little choice as there was no alternative. i think our smart recruitment of players like ben morgan is more gypo's (gareth jenkins) doing who is head of recruitment. i do feel for nigel slightly as i always felt during his regin (if he is going) that he had one hand tied behind his back. however there were short comings in is tatical nous which were demonstrated in games such as brive away and the saint LVC. either way if he does go, then I'd thank him for all he's done for us and wish him all the best with glaws in the future ( apart from when they are playing us)

priest:

yeah it's in the rugby paper today that we are after two former all blacks. the campbell johnstone is nearly a done deal, and it's just the formalities of the paperwork. with jason eaton it's we have our eye on him, and he wants to come to europe. the carizza rumour has died down recently, but he has still not signed for anyone else since being released. earle, johnstone, carizza and eaton would be amazing! although probably could still do with another prop

I agree with all of that, and think Gypo deserves a lot more credit, but I also think Nige deserves credit for our style of play, giving youth it's head (once Gypo had brought them in and developed them at youth level) but also for getting us up to competitive level without a decent front 5 (and then having Garin bring our front 5 up to competitive (in most games) level).

although probably could still do with another prop

And we let Cai Griffiths slip through our fingers...

I thought Eaton had already signed for someone else? we were looking at him a while back but am pretty sure he's got himself a new contract elsewhere. Wish I could blydi remember who with though! (or perhaps I've just imagine it )

rugbydreamer wrote:I thought Eaton had already signed for someone else? we were looking at him a while back but am pretty sure he's got himself a new contract elsewhere. Wish I could blydi remember who with though! (or perhaps I've just imagine it )

Ssshhh!

Just let me hope and dream for a bit longer than we'll make some great signings and have a front 5 to be used as a weapon next season!

I also heard that Eaton re-signed with the Highlanders.

Mentioned the possibly signings of johnstone & eaton on scrum v this evening. So hopefully there is some substance to these two rumours. Think eaton signed a 1 year contract at the start of this season for the canes, so possibly will be available this summer.

pioden gorllewin wrote:Mentioned the possibly signings of johnstone & eaton on scrum v this evening. So hopefully there is some substance to these two rumours. Think eaton signed a 1 year contract at the start of this season for the canes, so possibly will be available this summer.

Most of the Scrum V show just seemed to be repeating rumours that had been doing the rounds for ages, without actually adding anything themselves.

But I'm still hoping and had a google and can't find any news on Eaton signing a new contract (doesn't mean anything - but I'm clutching it as a straw of positivity! )

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Simon-Easterby-set-role-Scarlets/story-16193018-detail/story.html

Apparently easterby is the front runner if pwd (nigel) does go to glaws. To be fair to him he has turned possibly one of the worse defences in the rabo into one of the better ones this season. Also if garan follows pwd, will we be looking for another team manager?

I heard a rumour we were looking for a DoR as well (kinda makes sense if Easterby will be replacing Nige). But who knows - I'm treating it as nothing has changed until there's an actual announcement

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Scarlets-line-Black-lock/story-16217329-detail/story.html

hopefully there is no smoke without fire, and we will be signing eaton. fingers crossed hey

pioden gorllewin wrote:http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Scarlets-line-Black-lock/story-16217329-detail/story.html

hopefully there is no smoke without fire, and we will be signing eaton. fingers crossed hey

For some reason that link doesn't work, but I found the story you meant (below), like you say hopefully this means we are close - we'll see, it should be a lot clearer in the next few weeks.
http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Scarlets-line-Black-lock-Jason-Eaton/story-16217335-detail/story.html

diolch/thanks priest for new link.

yeap hopefully we'll hear something this week about the DOR situation and possible signings. my predictions are johnstone in this week and nigel out this week. think we won't hear the outcome of the eaton transfer for a couple of weeks.

I'm still having the faith/denial almost of a zealot in believing Nige will stay, at least until I actually see him at Kingsholm!

Priest, am.right there with you!

rugbydreamer wrote:Priest, am.right there with you!

Yeah!
US Zealots always stick together!

Looks like Liam Davies hasn't been offered a new contract judging by his Facebook status "scarlets at it again....messing players about...clueless, cowboys...hope boys messed about rub there noses in it!!!!"

shame he was playing reasonable well this season. but with cawdor, tav, rhodri and aled the scarlets have plenty of cover at 9.

also another rumour doing the rounds on "scarlets fever" forum is that deacon manu's verbal agreed contract has been withdrawn. not too sure how much truth is in this rumour, but seems strange the western mail etc announces he's signed but nothing offical from the club or from himself. hopefully he's been treated better by the region than that.

I would hope so, but it's also the reason why I don't believe anything about the Scarlets until it comes from them themselves.

Negotiating contracts and working out budget constraints is a tough old thing to sort through, especially this time of the season when some last minute signings are being made. Would hope there are better communication lines between players and regions then it appears though.