Roberts joins Dragons as Ryan steps up revolution
JAMIE Roberts last night opened up on his delight after completing a highprofile move to the Dragons.
The Echo last month revealed he was set to join the Gwent revolution being presided over by director of rugby Dean Ryan.
And the recruitment of the 33-yearold Lions and Wales star has finally been confirmed after he passed a medical.
“When I left Wales in 2013 to play my rugby outside my home country, I always promised myself that I’d endeavour to return and play in Wales again,” said the centre powerhouse.
“Having had some wonderful experiences playing across three of the world’s top leagues in France, England and South Africa, I’m delighted to return to Wales to play with Dragons and compete again in the Guinness PRO14 and next season’s Champions Cup.
“I’m sincerely grateful for having this opportunity, especially given the current climate we find ourselves in.
“I’m very proud and grateful to have achieved a lot of what I set out to in the game and now is a perfect time for me to help many of these young Dragons achieve theirs, as a collective and individually.”
Roberts, who has 94 Wales caps and three with the Lions, began his professional career with Cardiff Blues and has had stints with Racing 92, Harlequins, Bath and, most recently, South African Super Rugby franchise Stormers.
“They host the Lions next July and I’ve made sure John Dobson (Stormers head coach) knows I’d love to play in that one,” said Roberts.
Roberts becomes Ryan’s latest signing, following in the footsteps of Wales pair Jonah Holmes and Nick Tompkins, and Welsh-qualified lock Joe Maksymiw. Wales Six Nations lock find Will Rowlands is set to join from Wasps and new Welsh-qualified prop Greg Bateman from Leicester Tigers.
Roberts’ last Wales appearance – he captained them against Tonga and Samoa three years ago – came off the bench against New Zealand in November 2017 but, at 33, he hasn’t lost hope of forcing his way into the plans of coach Wayne Pivac.
Hadleigh Parkes and Owen Williams have both ruled themselves out of the Wales equation by signing lucrative deals to move to Japan while Jonathan Davies and Willis Halaholo are recovering from serious, long-term knee injuries, leaving Pivac with scant resources at centre.