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'He doesn't want to leave' - New revelation in Gareth Anscombe's Premiership transfer rumours

By Online Editors
Wales' Gareth Anscombe will miss the World Cup because of injury (Photo by Getty Images)

Cardiff first-five Gareth Anscombe does not want to give up his test ambitions with Wales in order to accomodate a move to the Premiership in England, according to Blues head coach John Mulvihill.

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The Rugby Paper revealed earlier this week that ambitious English club Bristol were interested in acquiring the services of the Kiwi-born 27-year-old, offering him a deal of £500,000-per-year to make the switch to the Bears, exceeding Anscombe’s current earning potential in Wales by at least £150,000 annually.

The move would rule Anscombe out of contention for international selection, as any foreign-based Welsh player must have 60 test caps to their name in order to still be eligible for the national side.

With just 26 appearances for Wales since his test debut in 2015, this year’s World Cup in Japan would act as Anscombe’s swansong from international rugby should he choose to take the contract offered by Bristol.

Fellow Premiership clubs Harlequins and Bath are also rumoured to be chasing a deal with Anscombe, as are Welsh club Ospreys, but Mulvihill is adamant his star man is staying put.

“He wants to play test rugby. He doesn’t want to leave,” he told the BBC.

“You’re never confident until you see a signature on a piece of paper but I think we’ll be very close. I don’t think he’s leaving Wales.

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“To be fair to him, I feel a bit sorry for Gareth. His name’s been touted about all over the place and that’s not from him. He’s one of the leaders in our group and I can’t see that changing anytime soon.

“This is his first club in Wales, all his mates play here, he lives in Cardiff, he’s happy here and his wife’s happy here in work.

“It’s up to him to make those final decisions but when we come down to those decisions it’s going to be based around the programme, and we’re currently the best team in Wales and performing the best this season.

“I don’t think he’d want to move away from that and he’s been a big part of our success. I’d say he’d want to stay.”

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Mulvihill’s comments come after current Scarlets and incoming Wales head coach Wayne Pivac, who coached Anscombe in New Zealand during the pair’s time at Auckland, told Wales Online that he hoped the playmaker stays in Wales to keep his test ambitions alive.

“From my point of view, I have coached Gareth before and he is an excellent player. We have seen that in recent times,” he said.

“I would like to see him remain. I have had a working relationship with Gareth in the past. Hopefully the decision he makes is that he remains in Wales and we have his services going forward.”

In a statement that will likely ease concerns held by both Pivac and Mulvihill, Bristol head coach Pat Lam, who coached Anscombe at Super Rugby level with the Blues in 2012, effectively ruled out signing his former player.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gareth Anscombe stay exactly where he is in Wales,” he told the BBC.

“I got three 10s next year [so] why would I pay that amount of money for someone else? I think we’ve been linked to [AJ] MacGinty, [Rhys] Priestland, [Danny] Cipriani. What I’ll say is it’s a great ploy by agents or others.”

Anscombe, after helping steer Wales to a Six Nations Grand Slam title last month, will now turn his attention to helping Cardiff secure a Pro14 play-offs spot, starting this week with a difficult away clash against Munster.

In other news:

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Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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