These are your rugby headlines on Friday, April 28.
Williams wins poignant award
On the night it was announced he is leaving Cardiff, Wales scrum-half Lloyd Williams won a rather poignant award.
At the club's end-of-season bash, the number nine was named The Peter Thomas Player of the Season, an accolade made all the more salient as it was chosen by Thomas in the days before his death last month.
The club announced: "Llongyfarchiadau to the 22/23 Cardiff Rugby end of season awards winners! Llongyfarchiadau i'r bawb sydd wedi eu gwobrwyo am y tymor. The Peter Thomas Player of the Season, as chosen personally by Peter during his final days, is Lloyd Williams."
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On Thursday night, Williams was named in a list of 16 players who will be leaving the Arms Park this summer. He has been targeted by English club Ealing.
The players' player of the season was Max Llewellyn, who is also departing this summer for Gloucester, while the fans' award went to Thomas Young, the son of suspended director of rugby Dai Young.
Rees-Zammit makes surprise visit
Youngsters at Gowerton RFC were delighted to see Wales star Louis Rees-Zammit at a training session this week.
The Gloucester winger/full-back made the surprise visit to see the club's under-12s in action. He even joined in with the boys' drills.
The club tweeted: "Big thank you to @LouisReesZammit for taking the time to visit @gowertonrfc Under 12's training session, the players & coaches were delighted."
He also stopped by at a West Swansea Hawks RFC session and posed for a photo.
They wrote on social media: "When you turn up for training & just happen to bump into @LouisReesZammit. Thanks for taking the time to talk to the girls #NewHawk"
Rees-Zammit was in try-scoring form for the Cherry and Whites at the weekend, touching down against Sale at Kingsholm, but it wasn't enough for the home side to take the win, with the Sharks emerging 22-25 victors.
Dragons to stick with coaching ticket
Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan has confirmed his current coaching ticket will remain in place for next season.
Flanagan inherited the same set-up from previous director of rugby Dean Ryan, meaning Simon Cross, Mefin Davies and Luke Narraway will remain in situ for the 2023/24 campaign.
“We have rolled everybody over into new contracts early because I want to see them freed up,” said the head coach.
“I enjoy working with this staff and everybody is here next year. It’s important that they are given a new lease of life, the same as the players, after all the change at the club.
“I challenge them daily and there is quality in there, so it’s on me to get it out.”
It has been a testing season on and off the pitch for the Dragons, but the former fly-half will now have a prolonged period to work with his players due to the World Cup. He says he will endeavour to put his own stamp on things in that time.
“I was second in command for the first few months, where you get your foundations, set expectations and your standards,” said Flanagan.
“To try to do that along the way has been interesting, and I feel we've had a good reaction and we just haven't been able to get results.
"It's drawing a line in the sand now, it becomes more mine and I will put my stamp on things. We will train differently… we have to because we don’t win enough games.”
'Overseas players should be available for England'
Players based at overseas clubs should be available for England selection under a temporary lifting of the current restriction enforced by the Rugby Football Union, according to the Rugby Players' Association.
RPA general secretary Christian Day insists that England stars are compelled to look abroad due to the £5millon salary cap observed by Gallagher Premiership teams.
Red Rose internationals Joe Marchant, Sam Simmonds, Luke Cowan-Dickie and David Ribbans will head to the Top 14 next season, while Jack Willis is already playing for Toulouse following Wasps' financial collapse.
Anthony Watson, meanwhile, is facing an uncertain future when his contract expires at Leicester in July with his desire to stay on these shores offset by the greater riches available in France.
England players are becoming increasingly less appealing to Premiership clubs because as well as commanding higher salaries, they can also be lost to international duty for lengthy chunks of the season.
The RFU says that players based outside the English top flight can only be picked in exceptional circumstances - a position supported by Premiership Rugby - but Day believes that rule should be paused until the salary cap rises to £6.4million in 2024-25.
"If the cap continues to be suppressed then we will continue to say the players can't get fair value in this country," Day said.
"For people like Jack Willis - and there are one or two others - who can't get fair value in this country at the moment primarily because the cap's suppressed, we think they should be able to go and be selected. We think that should exist next year as well."
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