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

possibly, but apparently we've turned our attentions to another super 15 TH player. or alternatively the other rumour is we only did the u-turn and offered manu another contract when we found out campbell failed his medical.

cautious

gowales:

hopefully watermayer will stay in wales, has shown enough promise already.

I wouldn't mind having Barrie back at the Scarlets to add a bit of experience if (which would be likely Stodds, Liam and North are away with Wales at the same time). I think Owens would be worth a punt with the Dragons (if they have any budget) as he could give them options at FH or centre, and even 15 if Evans/Prydie don't take off (though I think they'll do a decent job).

I am suprised the Ospreys left all of them go when you consider the back 3 players they've lost in the past few seasons.

Cross is interesting as TH's are always handy, but would need to be measured against the youngsters coming through (which is probably why the Ospreys let him go)

pioden gorllewin wrote:gowales:

hopefully watermayer will stay in wales, has shown enough promise already.

Why do you want Watermeyer to stay in Wales? He was basically brought in as cover for the Ospreys, there are plenty of talented Welsh centres out there.

curlyOsp:

True plenty of young welsh talent coming through in dixon, rheon james, scott williams, ashley beck etc....however think watermayer has something to offer welsh rugby. he's young and really stood out when given the opportunity. i mean id rather a young watermayer type player over someone like andy tuilagi. i have no problem with quality young "time serving" players like hanno dirksen, watermeyer, pretorius.

I think he would be a much better option for the Dragons than Ashley Smith as well. Watermayer - Hughes could be a good combination

wales606 wrote:cautious

Thanks thats one spelling I didn't try

CJ failed a medical I see. Does that consist of drugs testing?

morgannwg:

No I believe he missed a large part of last season with Biarritz due to an injury. I'm assuming he's failed his medical with the scarlets due to this long term injury, whether it be a knee, shoulder, back injury etc ...

Morgannwg wrote:CJ failed a medical I see. Does that consist of drugs testing?

I hope your not suggesting that Johnson would need to take drugs to join the Scarlets Morg!

"Shane Williams (Retired)-Confirmed" - pioden gorllewin, what about Mitsubishi Dynoboars in Japan?

ospreydragon:

just changed it for you

pioden gorllewin, I don't think it's been absolutely confirmed yet -- don't think he's signed on the dotted line yet, or at least it hasn't been reported that he has ...

Ospreydragon wrote:pioden gorllewin, I don't think it's been absolutely confirmed yet -- don't think he's signed on the dotted line yet, or at least it hasn't been reported that he has ...

Clearly this is a decoy so shane can barter a better deal from Ammanford RFC. He wants, 2 carrots, 1 hot dog and a half pint of lager per game, while Ammanford think they can use his loyalty and get away with 1 carrot.

pioden gorllewin, confirmed by Shane now:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2012/06/13/shane-williams-reveals-japan-move-was-too-good-to-turn-down-91466-31170774/

How can the Scarlets not sign Samson Lee after the JWC? Looks like a huge prospect in one of the positions where we're least blessed with options. Hope Easterby takes notice.

isn't samson lee on an academy/development contract? think he's in his first year of it. think the likes of rob evans, gareth thomas, kirby myhill , dan thomas, jordan williams etc are on similar deals. it's a bit worrying though with teams from france, england starting to look at our academies to sign players. dan thomas turned down offers from toulouse, Leinster, Munster, leicester to remain in our academy. think we were close to losing rob evans too at one point....also of course we lost shingler from our academy last season to london irish.

pioden gorllewin wrote:isn't samson lee on an academy/development contract? think he's in his first year of it. think the likes of rob evans, gareth thomas, kirby myhill , dan thomas, jordan williams etc are on similar deals. it's a bit worrying though with teams from france, england starting to look at our academies to sign players. dan thomas turned down offers from toulouse, Leinster, Munster, leicester to remain in our academy. think we were close to losing rob evans too at one point....also of course we lost shingler from our academy last season to london irish.

Where did you hear that? Is that the number 7?

Pioden, the poaching from the academy is worrying but on the plus side it does show that we are developing a lot of talented youngsters (I'm a glass half full person), we just need to get them to stay in the region. With a bit of luck the hope of a Welsh Cap will keep most in the region or at least in Wales, it seems very difficult for a youngster to come to the attention of the Welsh camp if they are playing abroad. (wishful thinking?).

I knew Dan Thomas was meant to be promising, however I had no idea he was meant to be that promising that he would be poached at such a young age.

But told on a few occasions about Dan, but it might be one of those chinese whisper things where teams get added each time the story gets told. but apparently he made an impression while playing for wales at age grade. the days days where you took it for granted that if a player came through your youth/academy system that they would automatically join the senior squad is no longer the case. london irish's contract offer to shingler was significantly more than what we offered. guess it's a balancing act between offering longer contracts to academy players, but also realising that not each player that shines at youth level will reach their full potential at senior level.

on another note it does look like rhys downs will be moving from the blues region to the dragons region for next season:

http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/sport/9759493.New_signings_to_give_Newport_more_competition_says_Cronk/

Having seen Dan Thomas play quite a few games for the U20's I have to say he looks like quite a prospect. Speed and body position at the breakdown comparable to some of the best. Another the Scarlets would be dull not to give more gametime next season imo.

Half of this current competitive U20's side could really boost regional options provided the management is smart enough to ease them into the fold. Dan Baker for the Ospreys. Dragons will be very pleased with signing Prydie after his recent performances. And I've said for years that the Anglo-Welsh isn't good enough, these boys need to be baptised in the Rabo to get a real taste of professional rugby.

I'm sure some if not many of them will be nabbed by non-Welsh clubs otherwise. If we're not careful we may even see a couple starring for other nations in a few seasons, like what almost happened with Shingler.

I heard a rumor Delve is going to Scarlets to replace Morgan

That would b amazing if true but we dont seem to b operating in that league

to be honest I made it up, was going to see if it caught on.

He's signed for Toulon anyway

According to SF Ali Williams is heading to the Scarlets

I would love that to be true. Can't see it though...

priest:

the ali williams thing was a hoax i believe.

from the supporters evening this weekend the word was that 2 x locks and 1 x TH prop will be joining us. One of the locks would be to HC standard and the other a squad filler. The squad filler could possibly be the argentine Tomas Vallejos Cinalli. The TH will be of Rabo standard or better. 3 players coming in will propably still leave the squad short of number in the front five in my opinion.

Yup Pioden it was a hoax, I was just reading about it on Scarlets Fever with arched eyebrows until I realised it was a hoax - but thought I would add it to this thread as it would sit nicely next to the Delve story. (shame it seemed to have died a similar death).

As you say another 2 squad fillers would leave us light in the front 5, but does that mean Gardiner is staying?

Any news on a no8 signing or being promoted from the academy or are we just going to rely on Murphy with McCusker/Shingler moved over as cover?

nige had told gardiner he was being released, and he was due to head over the severn bridge. but with nige leaving i guess its now easters call whether to keep him. i assume if he was being released it would have been announced the same time as gumbie and liam being let go. if gardiner is kept, then he can consider himself very luck. he has a very hard pre season to look forward too - which starts next monday right?

pioden gorllewin wrote:nige had told gardiner he was being released, and he was due to head over the severn bridge. but with nige leaving i guess its now easters call whether to keep him. i assume if he was being released it would have been announced the same time as gumbie and liam being let go. if gardiner is kept, then he can consider himself very luck. he has a very hard pre season to look forward too - which starts next monday right?

Yup out of the 2, Gardiner or Gilbert, I would have much rathered keep Gilbert - but the only reason I mentioned it was that if we're signing 1 Rabo quality TH and no other props, then we could well be relying on Manu as our 1st choice TH but he'd also be our 2nd/3rd choice LH as well, then we'd have our signing as back up TH, with Edwards and maybe Lee as our back ups, we would need Gardiner in that case IMO as we've only got R Jones, Phil John and Manu to play LH (unless Rob Evans can step up)

TH

New Signing
D Manu
P Edwards
S Lee

Hookers

K Owens
M Rees
E Phillips
K Myhill

LH

R Jones
P John
R Evans

Locks

G Earle New Signing
Timani New Signing
Turnbull Shingler ( both cover options)


If we pick up too many injuries & while Ken, Smiler & Rhodri are away with wales, we'll be in trouble. Won't matter who we have in our backline, we won't have a platform upfront.

Am also worried that we're asking too much of R Evans too soon (though I suppose Jones stepped up well).

We've got quite a bit of 'squad filler' in the locks, but the new signing would have to be very good to help the props and give us a platform.

Do you think D Thomas would be ready to step up for the 2nd half of the season? Otherwise again at 7 we're not great, with Shingler/Turnbull options but more 6's and then Edwards.

Think we'll start with

6 shingler
7 turbull
8 rob gog

Think dan will share gametime with edwards and pugh. But mainly lvc games, unless he has stormers which make it hard for easters to drop him. Also cudd was showing some form at end of season with llanelli. Wont be surprised to see llandovery s luke kendall having gametime at 8 either. Big ball carrying unit like ben morgan, just needs fitness.

I forgot about Cudd to be honest in all the excitement from the JWC. I don't like McCusker at 8 and don't think he has the full skillset to play there, would much prefer Murphy there (and would have liked Gilbert as back up for some games but there we are)

Heard someone else mention Kendall but haven't seen him play - how old is he Pioden and whats he like?

think i've read somewhere that gatland see's mccusker as more of an 8.

kendall used to be with the scarlets but wasn't fully focused on being a pro. last season he seemed to settle down a bit and concentrate on his rugby. he's a ben morgan type of ball carrying offloading 8. if he keeps progressing he should find himself with a region soon.

It would be nice to see another Morgan come through the ranks, how old is he? We certainly need a good 8.

20ish i think, newcastle emlyn boi - hopefully he'll be brought into the scarlets for pre season training.

looks like the released osprey TH craig cross turned up and began pre season training with the scarlets yesterday. hopefully he isn't the TH coming in to replace the collapsed deal for campbell johnstone!

That would be a major kick in the teeth if Cross is our 'big' signing at TH, and would make us a bigger laughing stock than if we'd signed the other Ospreys reject Cai Griffiths as our main TH.

But if we've signed Cross it prob means end of the line for Gardiner and Cross will sit under Edwards next season in the pecking order.

(unless he's just training with us while he finds a club)

think is someone we are just assessing in pre-season. but if we don't manage to sign a decent TH, then cross might become an option. physically he's fine, just lacks that aggression/dog that you'd like from your TH.

pioden gorllewin wrote:think is someone we are just assessing in pre-season. but if we don't manage to sign a decent TH, then cross might become an option. physically he's fine, just lacks that aggression/dog that you'd like from your TH.

Maybe we should get Rhys Thomas to wind him up continually during the pre-season, that could give him some aggression!

pioden gorllewin wrote:think is someone we are just assessing in pre-season. but if we don't manage to sign a decent TH, then cross might become an option. physically he's fine, just lacks that aggression/dog that you'd like from your TH.

Yeah over the summer before last season I saw Nathan Williams (who signed with the Dragons) at PYS, I guess it makes sence to see what Cross is like incase we decide to sign him. And after all he is a local lad (like Williams) so it would make sense to try his hand/train with us.

Think there is a few boys been brought in to have a look at from within the region. Reading the twitter accounts of some of the players it looks like mainly gym stuff/testing that was done yesterday (players complaining how sore they are after all the deadlifts, bench pressing etc) interestingly think Eifion Lewis Roberts was there training too, although only because the scarlets are up in north wales and he's a local lad (know he's signed for sale, shame he wasn't training as a new signing)

pioden gorllewin wrote:nige had told gardiner he was being released, and he was due to head over the severn bridge. but with nige leaving i guess its now easters call whether to keep him. i assume if he was being released it would have been announced the same time as gumbie and liam being let go. if gardiner is kept, then he can consider himself very luck. he has a very hard pre season to look forward too - which starts next monday right?

What is the story with him ? I have here that he is a bit of a trouble maker and that he has a bad attitude, the stories I have been hearing are that he has an already made it attitude and that he is having a little bit of a bad influence on the younger guys. Is this true ?

LordDowlais wrote:

pioden gorllewin wrote:nige had told gardiner he was being released, and he was due to head over the severn bridge. but with nige leaving i guess its now easters call whether to keep him. i assume if he was being released it would have been announced the same time as gumbie and liam being let go. if gardiner is kept, then he can consider himself very luck. he has a very hard pre season to look forward too - which starts next monday right?

What is the story with him ? I have here that he is a bit of a trouble maker and that he has a bad attitude, the stories I have been hearing are that he has an already made it attitude and that he is having a little bit of a bad influence on the younger guys. Is this true ?

I haven't heard anything concrete just basically what you've said above - apparently he was in last chance saloon towards the end of last season, and seeing as he didn't play (and we relied on Edwards) you must feel he didn't improve his attitude - but don't know for sure, hopefully Pioden has some info...

He was a good young scrummaging prop (rare these days) so firstly quins then the scarlets threw a lot of money at him. He thought he'd made it and had more hunger for cheeseburgers than making it as a pro player. Last season he struggled to bench for the club team. But also struggled to find a Jersey that covered his stomach. Impoved slighly towards end of season cause contract was up. Nige told him he was off, agent got him something over the severn bridge. Since then easterby been appointed, so not sure whst his situation is. Needs a hard pre season either way.