cardiff sign Anscombe

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Cardiff Blues have announced the major signing of Gareth Anscombe from Super Rugby champions the Chiefs on a long-term deal.Anscombe, who can play fly-half or full-back, will make the move to Arms Park and join the new-look squad under the guidance of new director of rugby Mark Hammett.Highly-rated back Anscombe, who qualifies for Wales through his mother, has scored an impressive 268 points in his Super Rugby career.The 23-year-old guided New Zealand U20s to the Junior World Championship three years ago and his eye-catching performances were vital in the Chiefs landing the title in 2013.Anscombe will join the Blues later this year following the completion of his ITM Cup commitments with Auckland.Richard Holland, Chief Executive of Cardiff Blues, hailed the news that Anscombe has signed a contract with the region as a huge statement of intent for the future."We are absolutely delighted that Gareth has decided to join the Cardiff Blues family. I'm sure supporters right across Welsh rugby will be extremely excited about his arrival," said Holland."Gareth is a fantastically talented player, a true winner, after securing successive title with the Chiefs, and also a very driven and ambitious young man."I first met him in October last year and was immediately impressed by his attitude. He has since been to Cardiff to have a close look at the region and is now very keen to move here and get started."When Mark Hammett was appointed as our new Director of Rugby we spoke about potential signings and Gareth was always top of that list. Hammer was extremely keen to bring him over and now we have concluded that deal after months of negotiations."Gareth's signing is an absolutely crucial one for Cardiff Blues, especially following the departure of Leigh Halfpenny, and it shows our absolute intention to strengthen and bring world class players to our region."My decision to leave New Zealand has been a tough one. I have loved every minute of career here in NZ and would like to say a special thanks to the Chiefs and Auckland Rugby for everything they have done for me," said Anscombe."However, in consultation with my family, I came to the conclusion that the opportunity in Wales was one that I simply couldn't turn down."I am really excited to be joining a region like Cardiff Blues. I was lucky enough to be able to visit last year so have a degree of familiarity with the club and people that will hopefully help me hit the ground running and start contributing to what I hope will be a successful season for the Blues."Much has been made about my Welsh eligibility and there is no doubt that my mother's side of the family have always reinforced my Welshness. However, I am under no illusions and my focus is very much on the Blues and if the opportunity to represent Wales comes as a result of my performances on the pitch then of course I will take it."

He says he thinks he's better at 10 but i would like to see Patchell start there, he's homegrown and talented. We need a 15 and Anscombe fits the bill.

As for other welsh 10's, i think it is very unfair on them. Williams hasn't been tried and i still think Gatland doesn't trust Biggar.

Is this deal solely funded by the Blues or are they hoping things will get sorted and the WRU will help fund it?

If its the latter then I fear he will get thrown into the Welsh squad for the AIs regardless of how he has settled it or what his form is like, similar to the pressure put on the then Welsh coach (Henry I think) to pick I Harris. If this does happen then to me its just not right and shouldn't be allowed.

How fate works.

Not too long ago this was a remote voice from the other side of the world throwing some flak at the Ulster management as being a shower of idiots for sacking his dad.

Now, in the space of only a few weeks, the remote voice becomes very much part of the 'pay-back' family vendetta agenda that might come back at Ulster and make them pay heavily for shaming one's dad in public.

Who is writing this rugby fate stuff in recent years???  He's damn good at his job!

bedfordwelsh wrote:Is this deal solely funded by the Blues or are they hoping things will get sorted and the WRU will help fund it?

Well in all press-releases about his signing there hasn't been anything about a central contract so it must be a contract with the blues. They're content with going it alone if they have to, it seems.

SecretFly wrote:How fate works.

Not too long ago this was a remote voice from the other side of the world throwing some flak at the Ulster management as being a shower of idiots for sacking his dad.

Now, in the space of only a few weeks, the remote voice becomes very much part of the 'pay-back' family vendetta agenda that might come back at Ulster and make them pay heavily for shaming one's dad in public.

Who is writing this rugby fate stuff in recent years???  He's damn good at his job!

Fly I think you'll find that the Ulster management were called clowns not idiots. In Belfast the idiots work in Stormount, not Ravenkingshillspan

Taylorman wrote:Please dont play him at 10. He was pushed out of the Auck Blues because he didnt run the game off the front foot well enough. Unfortunately he was traded to the Chiefs who turned him into a very good fullback. When Cruden was injured he filled in a 10 and the Chiefs went flat.

I think his best attributes are that he takes the initiative on attack and runs very good lines from the back. Also a very good goalkicker.

He's a 10 in the mould of Dan Biggar. And about as good as far as I can see. He's not attacking enough to be a top 10 in New Zealand but Gatland doesn't have Wales set-up like that- in the NH he's a decent option at 10.

Not to mention the game plan Gatland wants doesn't need an attacking 10...

Yeah, exactly. I doubt Gatland would have been tapping him up to play 15 when he has Halfpenny. Of course, the regions and the WRU don't exactly have a great relationship (understatement of the decade) so the Blues might just stick him at fullback and damn what Gatland wants.

SecretFly wrote:How fate works.

Not too long ago this was a remote voice from the other side of the world throwing some flak at the Ulster management as being a shower of idiots for sacking his dad.

Now, in the space of only a few weeks, the remote voice becomes very much part of the 'pay-back' family vendetta agenda that might come back at Ulster and make them pay heavily for shaming one's dad in public.

Who is writing this rugby fate stuff in recent years???  He's damn good at his job!

He wouldn't be the only one confused by the board's criteria regarding coaches and success. McLaughlin got his marching orders after bringing Ulster forward in leaps and bounds from the Matt Williams years. Anscombe did a very good job of consolidating their position among the top rungs in the Pro12 and Europe and he gets dismissed after a couple of years. Just sayin'

Either way you look at it, people are intrigued to see what he is like. I for one haven't seen anything of him as i don't watch the super 15 much but he seems to be held in a high regard by folks in the southern hemisphere. I don't think he will come straight in the welsh set up, needs to prove himself and probably wont even be in wales until November so will miss the autumn tests; see how he runs up until the SN.
Anyway, have a better feeling about next season for the regions (not so much ospreys though). Hoping to see some young players come through like Nicky Thomas, Nicky Smith, Tyler Morgan, Scott Matthews come through.The Dragons and Blues have made some cracking signings and will know doubt be better for it. I'm hoping players like Jake Ball, Dan Baker, Gareth Davies, Scott Baldwin start to make bigger claims for there regions.
Either way, its looking a bit better with a deal between regions and wru close and; so they say

gcBlues wrote:Not to mention the game plan Gatland wants doesn't need an attacking 10...

Not so sure there as in the past Gatland has preferred RP over DB who is more (not much) of an attacking 10 and plays a lot flatter etc.

gcBlues wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:Is this deal solely funded by the Blues or are they hoping things will get sorted and the WRU will help fund it?

Well in all press-releases about his signing there hasn't been anything about a central contract so it must be a contract with the blues. They're content with going it alone if they have to, it seems.

gc,

If that is the case then how can they afford him if no deal is sorted as all Regions according to reports are on verge of going under

Because we're owned by Peter Thomas, a seriously wealthy man who is stubborn - remember the move to CCS from CAP was for rugby reasons? Well, it wasn't and it was a mere show of 'look what i can do if you don't give me my way'. He relented when the people who mattered, the fans, didn't follow him and stayed away. In this situation, though, he's got the backing of the fans which makes him able to go it alone if he wishes, because we'll back him on this one. He's got the cash to keep us afloat and given his reputation, he'd probably be prepared to lose a few million than the WRU 'beating' him. Also, the money they get from the WRU also includes TV money, which is the bulk of it and they're guaranteed that money. What they won't get is the top up money for player release, which is a decent sum, but if they're prepared to take the hit there it'll hurt the WRU more because they will get less time with the players before the world cup and also either cancel the November test against SA (it falls outside of the IRB Test Window) or field a second string team and take a pounding.

Just on the 4th international in the autumn. I seem to recall reading somewhere that most that money from it was for the Regions. Would it mean that much to the WRU if there wasn't one? Most the other countries seem to be able to survive financially without it.

As for the world cup player release - I don't think the players will be too happy if they are not released. As it is, most of the first choice players won't be released either from their French/English clubs.

Sin é wrote:Just on the 4th international in the autumn. I seem to recall reading somewhere that most that money from it was for the Regions. Would it mean that much to the WRU if there wasn't one? Most the other countries seem to be able to survive financially without it

That's how the WRU will spin it but they have been running 4 AI's since before Gatland came over. When he came in and wanted more preperation time with the squad then they had to pay for it, so they now spin it as the 4th game being needed to fund this agreement. This equates to how much? 1.7m is it? They're takings for the tickets for the SA game alone will outstrip any costs they have to pay out for player release (if they sell 30,000 tickets prices £60 they already exceed that figure). It's because it's outside the window that the union use the release agreement justify it's purpose, when in actuality they've run 4 AI's since 2005 an maybe before.

No agreement sees Wales lose out on the players for the pre-AI, pre-6Ns extended training, and they will be returned before the 4th AI, and during the two free weekends during the 6Ns.

On a side note, was reading a story on Anscombe on the NZHerald website and the article had this in it:

"To his credit, he's committing himself to club football in Wales despite the impending chaos. The clubs are at war with the national union and the option was there for Anscombe to sign with a French outfit yet still play for Wales. That road is not for him, though. He didn't think it would send the right signals or reflect his intention to give all of himself to the national cause"

There was an option for him to sign for a french club? I wonder who may have suggested that as 'an option'?

It might have just been "he could have gone to France looking for a contract there" rather than "He had an offer from a club in France".

ScarletSpiderman wrote:No agreement sees Wales lose out on the players for the pre-AI, pre-6Ns extended training, and they will be returned before the 4th AI, and during the two free weekends during the 6Ns.

And removes the NWQ player limits, control over coaching teams, etc, etc.

Sin é wrote:Just on the 4th international in the autumn. I seem to recall reading somewhere that most that money from it was for the Regions. Would it mean that much to the WRU if there wasn't one? Most the other countries seem to be able to survive financially without it.

As for the world cup player release - I don't think the players will be too happy if they are not released. As it is, most of the first choice players won't be released either from their French/English clubs.

Where did you read that?
The 4 got £100k each AFAIK.
"Peanuts" I believe was the comment from a certain CEO who may have played for Cardiff and is now based in the mystical eastern prefecture;

"Wales pay Australia £750,000 for 'autumn' Test
09 Nov 2013
Match falls outside autumn window, meaning fee is payable and doubts over player release
Welsh Rugby Union will pay Australia more than £750,000 for playing the fourth Test of their autumn series on Nov 30.

The match falls outside the International Rugby Board’s three-week autumn window, and so visiting teams are able to demand an appearance fee."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/wales/10437928/Wales-pay-Australia-750000-for-autumn-Test.html

gcBlues wrote:remember the move to CCS from CAP was for rugby reasons? Well, it wasn't

I'm shocked and stunned.