Welsh Regions Signings/Departures/Rumours 2013 (Scarlets set to offer James "cub" Davies a contract)

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Ospreys

In

Tito Tebaldi (Zebra) – Confirmed
Rhodri Williams (Scarlets) - Rumour

Out

Kahn Fotuali'i (Northampton Saints) - Confirmed
Jonathan Thomas (Bayonne/Worcester Warriors) - Rumour
Jonathan Humphries (Scotland Forwards Coach) - Confirmed
Campbell Johnstone ( Russian Club) - Confirmed
George Stowers (Tasman) - Confirmed

Scarlets

In

Steven Shingler ( London Irish) –Confirmed
Ed Jackson (London Welsh ) – Rumour
Andrew Coombes (Dragons) - Rumour
Gareth Delve ( Melbourne Rebels) - Rumour
Serge Lilo (Wellington Lions) - Rumour
John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors) - Confirmed
Nick Cummins (Western Force) - Rumour
Farid Sid (Perpignan)- Rumour
Opeti Fonua (Agen) - Rumour
Brett Deacon (Leicester Tigers) - Rumour
Regan King (Backs/Skills Coach) - Rumour
Genesis Mamea (Wellington) - Rumour
Darran Harris (Pontypridd) - Rumour


Out

Tomas vallejos cinalli (Pampas XV) – Confirmed
Gareth Maule (London Irish/Munster) – Rumour
Adam Warren (Cardiff)- Rumour
Scott Williams (Cardiff) – Rumour
Sione Timani (Agen) – Confirmed
Rhodri Williams (Ospreys) – Rumour
Tavis Knoyle ( Gloucester) – Confirmed
Gareth Davies ( Cardiff) –Rumour
Owen Williams (Leicester Tigers) – Confirmed
Jonathan Edwards (Released) – Confirmed
Andy Fenby (London Irish) - confirmed
Morgan Stoddart (Retired) - Confirmed
Dan Newton (London Scottish) - Confirmed
Kieron Murphy (London Welsh/Edingburgh) - Rumour
George North ( Northampton Saints)- Confirmed
Rheon James (Cornish Pirates)- Confirmed
Richie Pugh (Released) -Confirmed
Rhys Jones (Released) - RumourConfirmed
Dale Ford (Released/Bristol) - Confirmed
Samson Lee (Glouceste) - Rumour
Peter Edwards (Released) -Confirmed
Craig Hawkins (Released) - Confirmed
Craig Price (Leicester Tigers) -Rumour


Dragons

In

Ross Wardle (Bedwas) - Confirmed
Richie Rees (Edinburgh) - Confirmed
Luciano Orquera (Zebre) -Rumour
Martin Muller (Cheetahs) - Confirmed
Juan Gomez (Pampas XV) - Rumour
Netani Talei (Edingburgh) - Confirmed
Francisco Chaparro (Stade Francias) - Confirmed
Kris Burton (Treviso) - Confirmed
Rhys Thomas (Wasps)- Confirmed
Malakai Fekitoa (Auckland) - Rumour



Out

Andrew Coombes (Scarlets) – Rumour
Dan Lydiate (Racing Metro)- Confirmed
Steve Jones (Retired)- Confirmed
Tom Brown (Released/Jersey) - Confirmed
Tondi Chavhanga (Released) - Confirmed
Iestyn Thomas (Retired) - Confirmed
Josh Tyler (Released) - Confirmed
Hywel Stoddart (Released) - Confirmed

Blues

In

Filo Paulo (North Harbour) - confirmed
Matthew Rees (Scarlets) Confirmed
Liam Davies (confirmed - until end of season)
Gethin Jenkins (Toulon) - Confirmed
Rhys Gill (Saracens) - rumoured
Adam Warren (Scarlets) - rumoured
Scott Williams –(Scarlets) – rumoured
Tavis Knoyle (Scarlets) – rumour
Gareth Davies ( Scarlets) - rumour

Out

Jamie Roberts (Racing Metro) - not confirmed
Tom James (Exeter Chiefs) -confirmed
Richard Mustoe (retirement) -confirmed
Fau Filise - (retirement) rumour
Ceri Sweeney (Exeter Chiefs) - Confirmed
Leigh Halfpenny (Clermont) - Rumour
Michael Paterson (Sale Sharks) - Confirmed
Campese Ma'afu (Nottingham) -Confirmed

Hands like feet. His Brother wont pass and he can't catch.

What this and other foreign signings will also do, controversially, is say to the Welsh talent "fight to get into pro rugby". At the moment they're just given a place out of necessity. There's no one else so they're chucked in. I want the cream rising to the top and getting a place because they're better than some of the foreign players, not because we've got no one else to fill the place.

Looking good for the Dragons next season, which is great to see.

pioden gorllewin wrote:think muller will be time serving. so who are the nwq?

ryan, chapparo, nimmo, talei, brown, burton, tugilali, chavhanga & possibly utility back (might be time seving)

that's 8 or 9 what's the limit?

Maximum of 8, although no more than 6 capped NWQs, I believe.

I am very annoyed with the beeb at the moment, signings like these should be reported asap as they are good news about the regions (and Scott Williams contract renewal too) however since Judgement Day all they seem to want to report on are the rrw/wru issues, and that is just rehashing the same sorry with a few new lines that some has been ex player has said.

Looking at the signings the Dragons have made it looks like they are going to have a pretty decent first team next season, and if they can get a decent enough pack they have backs that can really cause issues for most rabo sides.

always thought that tuilagi was a favourite of darren edwards. he seems to like the direct big direct inside centre type. but he's out of contract this summer so makes sense. shame if brown is released, think he has plenty of potential and always plays well (but guess talei is an up grade on brown)

although tim ryan and nimmo have another year of their contracts. be good if they could get rid of one, especially ryan (although injuries haven't given him much opportunities)

pioden gorllewin wrote:always thought that tuilagi was a favourite of darren edwards. he seems to like the direct big direct inside centre type. but he's out of contract this summer so makes sense. shame if brown is released, think he has plenty of potential and always plays well (but guess talei is an up grade on brown)

although tim ryan and nimmo have another year of their contracts. be good if they could get rid of one, especially ryan (although injuries haven't given him much opportunities)

Is there one of those 6 months injury clauses kicking around on his contract they could use to terminate his contract early?

Griff wrote:What this and other foreign signings will also do, controversially, is say to the Welsh talent "fight to get into pro rugby". At the moment they're just given a place out of necessity. There's no one else so they're chucked in. I want the cream rising to the top and getting a place because they're better than some of the foreign players, not because we've got no one else to fill the place.

Hallelujah. Apparently just chucking out a team of academy kids is the way to go, but personally I think kids develop better coming into a side with some experience.

Really pleased with these signings, fair do's. Better than I thought Beale and Dazzler would come up with.

Feel for Lewis Evans in all this mind, he took on the captain's curse this season when our squad was the weakest it's ever been, he's clearly not enjoyed it, and I'm not sure he will be first choice in any of the back row spots now if Talei can stay of the injury list and Toby Mark II keeps improving. Arguably he's a better 6 than Brown though, so I can understand why they let him go. Coombsy for captain next season, surely?

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

pioden gorllewin wrote:always thought that tuilagi was a favourite of darren edwards. he seems to like the direct big direct inside centre type. but he's out of contract this summer so makes sense. shame if brown is released, think he has plenty of potential and always plays well (but guess talei is an up grade on brown)

although tim ryan and nimmo have another year of their contracts. be good if they could get rid of one, especially ryan (although injuries haven't given him much opportunities)

Is there one of those 6 months injury clauses kicking around on his contract they could use to terminate his contract early?

didn't the scarlets use it to get rid of dafydd james and gavin thomas?

don't think the scarlets covered themselves in glory on the dafydd james termination of contract. rumour has it he turned up, and was refused entry onto the team coach. then was told that his contract was being terminated under the "24 week rule" something along those lines.

pioden - I don't think either contract cancelation went down too well, especially seeing as they were long term turks and Kees Meeuws was kept even though he was injured and, not being unfair, awful. I thin Daf wanted to come back from injury and was told he was not fit, and then had the 24 week thing dropped on him a week or so later, which really seemed naughty on our part.

That said there must be something like that available to the Dragons to ditch Ryan (and Chavanga, although his contract is out soon), and I doubt there would be much of an uproar seeing as he has done next to zip since signing.

Without sounding like a downer I don't see much optimism in these signings...

Rees - Will offer little more than Evans IMHO, slight upgrade through experience only.

Burton - Waste of time, might as well have gone for Dan Parks without the goal kicking!!

Talei - Bit part player for Embra, offers very little when tight 5 are on the back foot

Isn't Chaparro a failed stade development player? given 4/5 games in the last few seasons, excitement around him last year and he got a cap, but has been a nothing player in general???

Muller I know very little about except what I just researched, and apparently hasn't played this season?

The only real positives is that there are 2 tight 5 players there and and they are 2/3 more away from a competitive tight 5!!!

This just smacks of desperation though, that the Dragons have compiled a list of availables within the wage range and closed their eyes, selected a hand full and hope Edwards can make a team out of them!!

Evans and Jones are coming along nicely at 9/10, then there is Evans and Falatau in the back row, Jones coming through, and even a bit of quality out wide these days in Prydie, Evans and Riley, so why oh why don't the Dragons just let a lot of the NWQ guff leave (Chavanga, Tuilagi, Nimmo!!!!!) and spend on the tight 5???

My summary of the players are:

Martin Muller: Although he hasn’t played much recently you rarely meet a poor SA lock. Similar to the Scarlet’s Snyman/Earle he will be coming over hungry to make an impression. He needs the Dragons move to be successful, and I think it will be for him.

Kris Burton: Has got a good track record in the Rabo, so can’t see him being a bad signing. If Steffan Jones plays better than him, then the 10 jersey is his. Healthy competition.

Netani Talei: Great ball carrier, who will get the Dragons over the gainline. Know what you mean thebluesmanscometh about him needing a good platform to play well. But still see him as an upgrade on Brown, and will give backs the go forward ball that they need.

Francisco Chaparro: Haven’t seen him play, but surely an upgrade on Way and Buck. Don’t think either of those two would have been signed by Stade Francias. Argentinian TH’s pride themselves on their srummaging, so hopefully Chaparro will shore up the Dragons scrum. Will probably make more of an impact than Tim Ryan, so a positive signing.

pioden gorllewin wrote:think muller will be time serving. so who are the nwq?

ryan, chapparo, nimmo, talei, brown, burton, tugilali, chavhanga & possibly utility back (might be time seving)

that's 8 or 9 what's the limit?

Brown is Welsh no? Ryan will most likely be released, as will Tuilagi and Chavhanga I reckon.

Looks like Scott Williams is staying put

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/22081628

Risca Rev wrote:

pioden gorllewin wrote:think muller will be time serving. so who are the nwq?

ryan, chapparo, nimmo, talei, brown, burton, tugilali, chavhanga & possibly utility back (might be time seving)

that's 8 or 9 what's the limit?

Brown is Welsh no? Ryan will most likely be released, as will Tuilagi and Chavhanga I reckon.

think your right risca, he's english but WQ. seems to have played RL for wales.

wales606 wrote:Looks like Scott Williams is staying put

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/22081628

wasn't ashley smith's name linked with the blues? blues got a couple of decent centres coming through in owen williams and corry allen.

pioden gorllewin wrote:

wales606 wrote:Looks like Scott Williams is staying put

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/22081628

wasn't ashley smith's name linked with the blues? blues got a couple of decent centres coming through in owen williams and corry allen.

Smith was, as was Warren

If our HC pairing is Hewitt and Evans next season someone much be fired

pioden gorllewin wrote:

Risca Rev wrote:

pioden gorllewin wrote:think muller will be time serving. so who are the nwq?

ryan, chapparo, nimmo, talei, brown, burton, tugilali, chavhanga & possibly utility back (might be time seving)

that's 8 or 9 what's the limit?

Brown is Welsh no? Ryan will most likely be released, as will Tuilagi and Chavhanga I reckon.

think your right risca, he's english but WQ. seems to have played RL for wales.

Played Wales U21s too. He had a Welsh accent when he was on that dating show!!!

Some shrewd signings for the Dragons player-wise, though picking up four NWQ's in one swoop leaves something of a sour taste. Hopefully they can dismiss some who haven't been contributing much to compensate and start afresh next season. I agree with the notion against trying to refine too much raw talent at once, it hasn't borne fruit so far and drafting in some mercs to help bring on the youth in the long term is an approach worth trying imo.

Griff wrote:

Played Wales U21s too. He had a Welsh accent when he was on that dating show!!!

Maybe Take Me Out is why they don't want him anymore before he turns into a forward version of Henson?

pioden gorllewin wrote:My summary of the players are:

Martin Muller: Although he hasn’t played much recently you rarely meet a poor SA lock. Similar to the Scarlet’s Snyman/Earle he will be coming over hungry to make an impression. He needs the Dragons move to be successful, and I think it will be for him.

Kris Burton: Has got a good track record in the Rabo, so can’t see him being a bad signing. If Steffan Jones plays better than him, then the 10 jersey is his. Healthy competition.

Netani Talei: Great ball carrier, who will get the Dragons over the gainline. Know what you mean thebluesmanscometh about him needing a good platform to play well. But still see him as an upgrade on Brown, and will give backs the go forward ball that they need.

Francisco Chaparro: Haven’t seen him play, but surely an upgrade on Way and Buck. Don’t think either of those two would have been signed by Stade Francias. Argentinian TH’s pride themselves on their srummaging, so hopefully Chaparro will shore up the Dragons scrum. Will probably make more of an impact than Tim Ryan, so a positive signing.

I see where your coming from but your basing 2 opinions on Argy and SA sterotyped players, Talei had a great HC run with Embra, but without a platform he is a poor mans Tuilagi/Falatau, Dragons problems aren't getting over the gameline, it's getting a platform to do so, and burton will offer next to nothing for the backline to use, compounding the Tuilagi issue.

I just don't see how these signings are structured, how they are adding to a long or short term plan, or how they are anything but last minute affordable buys to plug gaps.

If I were the Dragons coach I would be highlighting the tight 5 as a priority, especially a scrummaging TH, A bigger option at hook, and 2 locks!!! After that I'd be looking for a real nuiscance of a 7 and a strong centre option.

it's now official george north leaves the scarlets:

http://www.scarlets.co.uk/eng/news/5702.php

The Scarlets have agreed to the request to release 20-year-old wing George North a year early from his contract to join Northampton Saints in 2013/14 on a three-year deal that spans the Rugby World Cup in 2016.
The agreement between all parties was reached late on Friday (April 5th). North will now focus on the remainder of his season at Parc y Scarlets with three big home games for the West Wales side in the race for the PRO12 semi-finals starting with Glasgow this Friday, followed by Cardiff Blues and Benetton Treviso.
Welsh speaker North, who was born in the English town of King's Lynn and grew up in Anglesey, North Wales debuted for the Scarlets in September 2010 having come through development rugby in North Wales and then Scarlets regional pathway via a bursary at Llandovery College. North has made 41 appearances for the Scarlets with 70 points. Aged just 18, he scored two tries in his first-ever Scarlets match against Benetton Treviso.

He made his Test debut as an 18-year-old against South Africa in 2010, scoring two tries on that occasion and went on to play a starring role as Wales reached the 2011 World Cup semi-finals, before helping them secure the 2012 and 2013 Six Nations titles. He has 31 caps for Wales.

Chief Executive of the Scarlets, Mark Davies said: "Everyone at the Scarlets will wish George the very best in his future career now that it is clear he will be playing his club rugby in Northampton for the next few years.

"Despite our desire to retain all our internationals within the region, we have to balance our available resource over the need to sustain a 50-deep player squad that can continue to compete during international periods.

"Taking that into account, we made George the very best offer we could. However, we have to fully understand and appreciate that George's quite unique value in the rugby marketplace, possibly inside Wales, but certainly outside Wales, is considerably greater than the Scarlets as an independent business can reach."

The Scarlets Chief Executive confirmed that they had contacted George's representative in late January, immediately following a direct approach from a club outside the UK. He also confirmed that whilst these speculative approaches are not unusual and happen throughout the season with high profile players, it was clear that on this occasion, the club involved was very serious in its intent. Following standard practice and as requested, all further discussions were held via George's representative .

Mark Davies added: "We are obviously massively disappointed to be losing a player of George's world-class quality and ability from Parc y Scarlets, however we appreciate the reality that the profile and success he has achieved in such a short space of time attracts huge attention and makes him a prized player for any club in Europe.

"The last few weeks have been made increasingly difficult with considerable added pressure on George, those close to him and the Scarlets with the continuing level of intrusion, speculation and debate from outside the region surrounding George's future with us. We firmly believe that this situation illustrates that our policy of privacy for individuals is the correct and proper position for our business to take at all times.
"We fully respect the right of any individual to ensure they pursue the very best opportunities available to them and now that a final decision has been reached, we sincerely hope George will be allowed to get on and enjoy the rest of his season with the Scarlets. He will leave with our sincere thanks for all he has done for Scarlets Rugby and our very best wishes from everyone in our region for the future."

Christian Abt, George North's representative said: "Once we'd been informed by the Scarlets that a club outside the UK had made a significant approach, which the Scarlets had to consider, we focused on ways to keep George at the Scarlets, or within Wales.

"Given our initial intention to complete the existing contract, the Scarlets made the best offer they could for an extended agreement, but unfortunately, having taken into account every aspect involved in such an important decision, we were unable to agree terms.

"At the same time it became very apparent that due to a number of factors beyond our control and with no clear directive on the horizon, keeping George in Wales would prove increasingly difficult over time.

"Following the recent weeks of much publicised debate, we are delighted to have reached an agreement with Northampton Saints who have made every effort to make what was a very difficult and emotional decision into a very sensible one, and George can now look forward and work hard throughout the remainder of his season with the Scarlets before his move to Northampton in the summer."

Allan Robson, Chief Executive of Northampton Saints said: "We are delighted to have reached an agreement with the Scarlets for George North to join us; we thank the Scarlets for their co-operation and responsibility in this matter since we made an approach via George North's representative to discuss bringing him to Franklin's Gardens.

"Everyone in our rugby community recognises and respects what an outstanding job the Scarlets have done to support, develop and invest in George North as rugby player, along with many other internationals within their remarkably successful set-up.

"He is an exceptional talent and one of the most formidable back-three attacking players in world rugby - with so much more to achieve in his rugby career at just 20 years old. We look forward with great anticipation to what he can bring to his performances with Northampton Saints next season."

So begins my boycott of all Scarlets games.

pioden gorllewin wrote:My summary of the players are:

Martin Muller: Although he hasn’t played much recently you rarely meet a poor SA lock. Similar to the Scarlet’s Snyman/Earle he will be coming over hungry to make an impression. He needs the Dragons move to be successful, and I think it will be for him.

Kris Burton: Has got a good track record in the Rabo, so can’t see him being a bad signing. If Steffan Jones plays better than him, then the 10 jersey is his. Healthy competition.

Netani Talei: Great ball carrier, who will get the Dragons over the gainline. Know what you mean thebluesmanscometh about him needing a good platform to play well. But still see him as an upgrade on Brown, and will give backs the go forward ball that they need.

Francisco Chaparro: Haven’t seen him play, but surely an upgrade on Way and Buck. Don’t think either of those two would have been signed by Stade Francias. Argentinian TH’s pride themselves on their srummaging, so hopefully Chaparro will shore up the Dragons scrum. Will probably make more of an impact than Tim Ryan, so a positive signing.

Totally agree - surprised that more hasn't been made of signing Talei - last season, he picked up three Heineken Cup man-of-the-match awards and was nominated for the ERC European Player of the Year title. Edinburgh are fairly gutted to have lost him. He's the captain of Fiji for feic's sake.

Okay, so he's not Welsh but as my lot from Port Talbot say, "nobody's perfect".

"Apart from Antony Hopkins".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/22086537

Artful_Dodger wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/22086537

Good find, Dodger.

So next season, Racing Metro's backline could be:

9. Sebastien Descons
10. Jonny Sexton
11. Juan Imhoff
12. Jamie Roberts
13. Olly Barkley
14. Julien Jane
15. Juan Martin Hernandez

Nice.

Stone Motif wrote:But...but...Team Wales! Failing businesses! Welsh youngsters won the Grand Slams!

Returning to the Dragons, interesting that Chris Kirwan's piece in the Argus this morning says the new recruits leave us with two NWQ spots and we are still hopeful on more recruits, if this is true I guess it means the likes of Tuilagi, Chavanga, and Jamie Smith are off.

know that a utility back is being signed from world artists (same agency as muller)

http://www.worldartists.co.za/


just sorting out the working visa.

Well let's hope he actually has some utility then, unlike Jamie Smith or Mr Tuilagi at times

If we have 6 OP's in each squad its 24 places unavailable to our developing players. That is one starting squad in my humble opinion.

The argument about these guys developing our talent whilst having some credence is not really the case. It might have held some water when the likes of Marshal etc were around but these second rate mercenaries have little to offer.

Yes but allty not all young developing players will play for the welsh iternational team mind.
Our system is great and as I said before these signings are NOT going to prevent players coming through, they are just going to help us whilst they do

Pioden - any more news on the Delve rumour? Also (and just a hope) any chance of Barclay popping intot he office to sign his contract when Glasgow visit tonight?

There’s been definite contact between us and Delve & Barclay. So we are in pursuit of these two players, however how far that has progressed I don’t know. Saw Derwyn Jones yesterday, wasn’t meant to ask him if he had any inside info on it.

In regards to Barclay, I’m hoping monty schlong will be telling him how great a club we are and to sign on the dotted line.

Be very happy with a backrow of:

6 – Shingler
7 – Barclay
8 – Delve

Looks too good to be true though!

Lamont loved the area, was setting up a rugby skills place in Carmarthen (or talking about it), so I assume he will be waxing lyrical about how good a region it is.

If both signings are true we should have a decent set of options in the back row

6 -: Shingler / Turnbull / McGog
7 -: Braclay / D Thomas / Turnbull
8 -: Delve / McGog / Bennett

pioden gorllewin wrote:There’s been definite contact between us and Delve & Barclay. So we are in pursuit of these two players, however how far that has progressed I don’t know. Saw Derwyn Jones yesterday, wasn’t meant to ask him if he had any inside info on it.

In regards to Barclay, I’m hoping monty schlong will be telling him how great a club we are and to sign on the dotted line.

Be very happy with a backrow of:

6 – Shingler
7 – Barclay
8 – Delve

Looks too good to be true though!

That would be a cracking back row.

There’s been definite contact between us and Delve & Barclay. So we are in pursuit of these two players, however how far that has progressed I don’t know. Saw Derwyn Jones yesterday, wasn’t meant to ask him if he had any inside info on it.

In regards to Barclay, I’m hoping monty schlong will be telling him how great a club we are and to sign on the dotted line.

Be very happy with a backrow of:

6 – Shingler
7 – Barclay
8 – Delve

Looks too good to be true though!

That backline would seem to good to be true, imagine that though. Bluddy hell.
Ok lets hopefully just sine JJ Engelbrecht, Travis Ismaiel and Jacques Rossouw from Worlsartists and we are done for next season becuase thats looks like where all our players are coming from. I think the welsh regions have singel handidly kept them in buisness.

Maule, Warren and Scott Williams have all signed new contracts at the Scarlets. So Blues aren't getting either Warren or Williams then, wonder what centre they'll bring in now to replace Roberts.

yeap just seen the scarlets have confirmed it:

http://www.scarlets.co.uk/eng/news/5713.php

heard that scott and warren had signed up....glad maule has too as there was strong rumours that he was off to munster or london irish. looks like our centres are sorted now for next year. just need barclay, deleve and a couple of wingers now and we'll be sorted.

reckon blues will recruit a centre from SH, possible a kiwi?

Liam wrote:Maule, Warren and Scott Williams have all signed new contracts at the Scarlets. So Blues aren't getting either Warren or Williams then, wonder what centre they'll bring in now to replace Roberts.

They do not need to sign anyone. they have two pretty decent centres coming through the age grade, especially in Allen they have a gem there. But knowing the Blues, they will sign some polynesian called Tiane Mafffffaaa'Fuuaaa'Allla aged about thirty, who has shown promise playing in either the English first division for some one like Rotherham or a from the French first division.

The three who all re-signed is very good news. And with both Maule and Warren we have two good centres to cover Foxy and Scott, but also two good options to slot on the wing if they are needed there.

Looking at the comings and goings now with the exception of George and maybe Fenby,I don't really see too much need for panic as it seems the players leaving have better options coming in to replace them.

biggest loss in my eyes is owen williams....part of me would be less disappointed if we had lost priestland instead.

Owen is a loss, but I try to delude myself about that one by thinking Rhys will return and get back on form, and it means more of a chance for Jordan Williams and Steve Shingler to get decent game time.

something about owen reminds me of owen farrell. that self confidence and mental toughness that see's you through big games. very much a HC type of player in my opinion. priestland on his own admission struggles with that mental toughness as all good 10's need.

LordDowlais wrote:

Liam wrote:Maule, Warren and Scott Williams have all signed new contracts at the Scarlets. So Blues aren't getting either Warren or Williams then, wonder what centre they'll bring in now to replace Roberts.

They do not need to sign anyone. they have two pretty decent centres coming through the age grade, especially in Allen they have a gem there. But knowing the Blues, they will sign some polynesian called Tiane Mafffffaaa'Fuuaaa'Allla aged about thirty, who has shown promise playing in either the English first division for some one like Rotherham or a from the French first division.

Yeah because the Blues have never found talented players by looking in stange places

Copeland is terrible, as is Cuthbert...

The Blues have 2 talented young centres, but you need more than 2 - and both have little experience in the pro12 let alone HC.

I would have liked to see Scott Williams at the Blues to bring through the young talent and kick out Evans and Hewitt from the starting team

Blues have a good history of recruiting in NZ... Rush, Tito, Laulala, Blair Paterson etc. Reckon PT needs to use his connections and get on the phone to GH and see what centres are available.

wales606 wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

Liam wrote:Maule, Warren and Scott Williams have all signed new contracts at the Scarlets. So Blues aren't getting either Warren or Williams then, wonder what centre they'll bring in now to replace Roberts.

They do not need to sign anyone. they have two pretty decent centres coming through the age grade, especially in Allen they have a gem there. But knowing the Blues, they will sign some polynesian called Tiane Mafffffaaa'Fuuaaa'Allla aged about thirty, who has shown promise playing in either the English first division for some one like Rotherham or a from the French first division.

Yeah because the Blues have never found talented players by looking in stange places

Copeland is terrible, as is Cuthbert...

The Blues have 2 talented young centres, but you need more than 2 - and both have little experience in the pro12 let alone HC.

I would have liked to see Scott Williams at the Blues to bring through the young talent and kick out Evans and Hewitt from the starting team

Yes,and the three forwards you signed are truly world beaters, remind me again what happened to those two Romanians the Blues were giving trials to.

LordDowlais wrote:

Yes,and the three forwards you signed are truly world beaters, remind me again what happened to those two Romanians the Blues were giving trials to.

Dunno. Did they fail their trials and got sent back to Lynn Howells?

I hope the Scarlets don't sign Barclay. I feel they have enough talent in the back-row who are welsh qualified. I think the Scarlets should save some money, I don't want them to sign an expensive Scottish international, they are in debt and they don't have a Toulouse or Leicester size budget. Josh Turnbull, RobMcCusker, Keiran Murphy, Daniel Thomas, Aaron Shingler and Jonathan Edwards I believe are secured for next season. Do we need anyone else? I think 7 back-rowers is a lot, 6 would be enough, maybe even 5. The Scarlets do not need more back-rowers. I think the Scarlets should not sign Barclay.

international197 wrote:I hope the Scarlets don't sign Barclay. I feel they have enough talent in the back-row who are welsh qualified. I think the Scarlets should save some money, I don't want them to sign an expensive Scottish international, they are in debt and they don't have a Toulouse or Leicester size budget. Josh Turnbull, RobMcCusker, Keiran Murphy, Daniel Thomas, Aaron Shingler and Jonathan Edwards I believe are secured for next season. Do we need anyone else? I think 7 back-rowers is a lot, 6 would be enough, maybe even 5. The Scarlets do not need more back-rowers. I think the Scarlets should not sign Barclay.

Of that list their positions break down to

6 -: Turnbull, McCusker, Shingler
7 -: Dan Thomas (Jedward is going)
8 -: ??? (Murphy is going)

So realistically we are going to need a mentor at openside for Dan Thomas, and we are going to need a out and out 8.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

international197 wrote:I hope the Scarlets don't sign Barclay. I feel they have enough talent in the back-row who are welsh qualified. I think the Scarlets should save some money, I don't want them to sign an expensive Scottish international, they are in debt and they don't have a Toulouse or Leicester size budget. Josh Turnbull, RobMcCusker, Keiran Murphy, Daniel Thomas, Aaron Shingler and Jonathan Edwards I believe are secured for next season. Do we need anyone else? I think 7 back-rowers is a lot, 6 would be enough, maybe even 5. The Scarlets do not need more back-rowers. I think the Scarlets should not sign Barclay.

Of that list their positions break down to

6 -: Turnbull, McCusker, Shingler
7 -: Dan Thomas (Jedward is going)
8 -: ??? (Murphy is going)

So realistically we are going to need a mentor at openside for Dan Thomas, and we are going to need a out and out 8.

I now know Murphy and Edwards are leaving and I think the Scarlets should look to Llanelli RFC, Llandovery RFC and other clubs to replace them. Llanelli RFC squad http://www.llanellirugby.com/Teams/Squad, Llandovery RFC squad http://www.llandoveryrfc.co.uk/Teams/Squad. Plenty of back-rowers to bring through, and that's only two clubs within the region, there are hundreds of clubs within the Scarlet region for them to turn to.

Inter197.
I think you need to realise though that the only reason the Scarlets look elsewhere is because there is no one in the pipeline either ready or good enough to bring through. Its no good to either the player selected or the rest of the team that have to carry them to put a player that is not capable of stepping up to the required standard in the regional team.