Gabriel Hamer-Webb eligibility decision looms as Prem comes knocking

Leicester Tigers have put Cardiff flyer Gabriel Hamer-Webb on their shopping list for a move back across the Severn Bridge when his contract runs out at the end of the season.

An offer from the Tigers would give Bath-born Hamer-Webb, 24, a decision to make, as he qualifies for Wales through his Cardiff-born mother and spoke of his desire to win international caps at the start of the season.

“Wales is definitely on my radar right now. But I’ve got to really earn it because I’ve come into a squad where you’ve got back-three internationals, and you’ve got the likes of Rio Dyer, who is doing so well right now.

“But it is a big goal of mine,” admitted Hamer-Webb, who can play on either wing and at full-back, and scored a hat-trick against the Ospreys last weekend in Cardiff’s 36-19 win at the Millennium Stadium to double his tally for the season.

The former England Under-20 international had spells in the Premiership with his hometown club, Northampton Saints, and played in the NPC for Southland before arriving on a short-term contract in November 2023, which was later extended.

Hamer-Webb, a budding fashion entrepreneur who has started a clothing brand called Banton, is a latecomer to rugby after spending time in the academies of Southampton and Bristol City before switching codes.

“Rugby actually wasn’t my main sport when I was growing up. I played football until I was around 15 or 16, and I was late getting into rugby.

“All my friends played rugby, and I went to Beechen Cliff, which is linked to Bath Rugby. I just loved playing it. I definitely had to play catch-up in my early years as a rugby player,” he said.

The Tigers are looking for someone to replace Worcester Warriors-bound Josh Bassett and to add competition for Ollie Hassell-Collins, Adam Radwan and Solomone Kata.