URC INS & OUTS
Wales stars return for new-look competition
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac made a telling comment this summer when he said he expects to see the best of Will Rowlands at Test level only once he settles into life at the Dragons.
Rowlands has all the attributes to be a hugely successful international lock. He already has ten caps, but there is a nagging feeling he hasn’t yet scratched the surface of his potential.
Pivac believes that will come this autumn and in the 2022 Six Nations because Rowlands will be better managed in Newport than he was at previous side Wasps.
Rowlands has so far left Wales camps to go back and play for Wasps when required when the majority of his international teammates have been resting. “I think we’ll see the best of Will come the autumn when he’s had a good off season and a break,” Pivac said.
“He’ll be managed well at the Dragons. At Wasps he plays virtually every minute of every game and then comes into national camp where we don’t go easy on the players in terms of their conditioning and intensity in training. Will has been on vapours for a while.”
Rowlands began his journey as a Dragon last week and he is one of several new faces in Wales preparing for the inaugural United Rugby Championship season.
“I’m feeling good. It’s great to be here because it’s been a long time coming. It’s nice to get my feet on the ground and get going,” Rowlands exclusively told TRP. “I know a few of the faces around the place – not just the players, but the coaches too so it’s been an easy transition.
“I am looking forward to getting fully stuck into it, hear some new voices, have new coaches, and experience a change of environment.
“It’s nice to have a different focus after the last seven years being very focused on the Premiership and to get stuck into a new league. It’s a new league for everyone so I’m really looking forward to it.
“I had a few conversations with Dean Ryan(Dragons DoR) – some of them were quite a long time ago now – about the direction of travel here and what they are trying to do. Everything aligned with me.”
With Cory Hill and Jake Ball having departed Welsh rugby, Pivac’s lock reserves have been hit hard. Alun Wyn Jones remains as important as ever with his fellow 2021 British & Irish Lion Adam Beard set to rival Rowlands to be his second row partner for the autumn.
Rowlands’ Wales teammate Tomas Francis has also followed in his footsteps by leaving the Gallagher Premiership for Welsh domestic rugby. These are moves which have taken place – like WillGriff John from Sale to Scarlets – because of the Welsh Rugby Union’s 60-cap rule. Rowlands,
Francis and John have all had to move to Wales to continue their international careers.
Francis should be a huge signing for Toby Booth’s Ospreys. He is a criminally underrated prop who is a solid scrummager and Pivac will be immensely happy he is in Wales. Rhys Priestland’s move from Bath to Cardiff Rugby is also a fascinating one. The fly-half is 34 and last played for his country in 2017, but he is very likely to compete hard for a place in Wales’ autumn squad with injury doubts over Gareth Anscombe and Rhys Patchell.
Booth’s recruitment at the Ospreys looks to have been sound. Alex Cuthbert has joined Francis in signing from Exeter Chiefs. The Welsh-qualified Michael Collins has also arrived from New Zealand. Watch out for Collins when it comes to Wales, too.
Young forward tyro Jac Morgan is also a canny acquisition from neighbours Scarlets who must do better than they did last season under new main man Dwayne Peel.
The impact of Covid-19 has hit rugby’s transfer market hard. Yet there are still plenty of fresh faces as what was previously the Guinness PRO14 takes on a new guise.
Chief among them, of course, are all the new players from the four South African provinces who will play their club rugby in the northern hemisphere this season. Springbok captain Siya Kolisi is the headline act.
Powerful tighthead John and Argentina flanker Tomas Lezana are impressive new faces at the Scarlets while time will tell if Scott
Williams has recovered from his injury problems. It also remains to be seen if South African sides Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and Lions will trouble Irish powerhouses Leinster and Munster.
Crusaders and Samoa prop Michael Ala'alatoa has signed for Leinster while Simon Zebo’s return to Munster from Racing 92 must surely be the most popular transfer of the summer.
South African lock Jason Jenkins is also a new and exciting Thomond Park addition while Tongan powerhouse lock Leva Fifita will continue his career with Connacht after leaving Grenoble.
In Italy, Benetton’s acquisition of Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro – Argentina’s most capped prop – is nothing short of canny while in Scotland, both Glasgow and Edinburgh have work to do.
Wallabies loose forward Jack Dempsey, full-back Josh McKay and Simon Berghan look excellent Glasgow signings while Emiliano Boffelli, Ramiro Moyano, Luan de Bruin and Henry Immelman have all joined Edinburgh. Rowlands’ new Dragons teammate – Fiji prop Mesake Doge – said: “It’s a different competition with different teams and styles of play. I try to experience as many competitions as I can.
“When I was in Romania it was quite different to how it was in France and coming to Wales is going to be different again to those experiences. I believe I’m still growing as a player so to come into an environment that will help you grow is something I’m excited for and that is why I signed for Dragons.”