The Scarlets have pulled off a significant coup with the signing of supremely talented Wales international Ioan Lloyd from Bristol Bears.
As WalesOnline exclusively revealed two weeks ago Lloyd was pondering a move to the Scarlets in a bid to fight for a place in the Wales squad, and he has now decided to put pen to paper on a deal with the west Walians.
The 22-year-old, who can play across the backline, is highly rated by Bristol boss Pat Lam who believes Lloyd is a potential "world-class" player who could star for Wales at Test level in the future.
While he has the ability to play across the backline the former Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf pupil has been signed predominately as a 10.
He became Bristol’s youngest-ever player in the English Premiership when, at the age of 18, he made a try-scoring appearance as a replacement in the West Country derby against Bath.
Lloyd was capped at U18s and U20s level and graduated to Wales senior honours in 2020, making two appearances off the bench during the Autumn Nations campaign that was played at Parc y Scarlets.
"It has been a very hard decision to leave Bristol," he said. "I’ve had a fantastic four years at the club and I leave having made many good friends.
"However, having sat down a few times with Dwayne (Peel), I feel a move to the Scarlets is a good rugby one for me and will help me further develop as a player. I feel the Scarlets’ game-plan will suit my style of play and I’m excited to get stuck in next season.
“But for now, my focus is on working hard to help Bristol finish the season strongly.”
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Lloyd's signing will come as a significant boost for the Scarlets, and indeed Welsh rugby on the whole.
For most of this season the game in Wales has been in a state of crisis with a contractual freeze in place at all four regions only recently getting lifted, so to attract a player of Lloyd's undoubted quality to Parc y Scarlets can be seen as a serious statement of intent.
Scarlets boss Peel has been busy building a squad for next season with Wales hooker Ryan Elias signing a new contract with the club last week having had interest from French clubs.
Peel has worked hard to develop a number of promising young players which is currently paying dividends with the likes of Joe Roberts, Kemsley Mathias, Sam Costelow and Tom Rogers coming to the fore in recent months.
And the former Wales scrum-half is delighted to add Lloyd into the mix for next season.
“Ioan is a high-quality player with a huge amount of talent, a ball player with the ability to break the line and take on defences," he said.
"He is a player who we feel will fit well with the way we look to play here and we're looking forward to welcoming him in the summer. He is a young man and we're looking forward to seeing him grow in a Scarlets shirt.”
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