LONG READ Fletcher Anderson: 'They love their rugby in Llanelli. The fans in Wales are as passionate as anywhere.'

It’s a rugby truth universally acknowledged: when someone in Wales strings together two good performances, the hype machine cranks into gear. As former Ospreys’ chief Mike Cuddy once reckoned: “Dai Jones runs down the wing and scores two tries on Saturday, everyone goes crazy and he’s in the Welsh squad on Monday.”

But 16 good performances?

How shall we put this? In a world of social-media noise, where the odd disagreement is not uncommon, locals in west Wales pretty much all agree on one issue: Fletcher Anderson – what a signing he has been for the Scarlets.

Since making his debut for the west Walians against Glasgow last November, there have been fewer missteps from the 23-year-old than there are karaoke bars on Venus.

A hat-trick of supporters’ player-of-the-month awards underline his impact. In 14 of the 16 games he has played, he has finished at the head of the Scarlets’ carrying stats, while in nine of those matches he has been their frontline tackler. Since coming off the pitch with 11 minutes to play on debut barely five months ago, the former Crusader has played in every minute of every game.

If he isn’t announced as player of the year at the Scarlets’ annual dinner, there ought to be a stewards’ inquiry.

“Very good,” is the considered verdict of Les Williams, who has forgotten more than most will ever know about Llanelli rugby, having monitored the ups and downs of all things Scarlet, while recording pretty much every stat, for 60 years until stepping aside from official duties last season.

Can we say, then, that the new boy is upholding the standards laid down by outstanding Scarlets No. 8s such as Scott Quinnell, David Lyons, Ben Morgan, Uzair Caseem and Sione Kalamafoni, while not forgetting John Barclay during the region’s league title-winning season of 2016-17?

Indeed we can, according to Les: “He’s showing the potential to be up there with them. For me, Scott was as good as it gets as a No. 8: if I was picking an all-time Scarlets rugby XV he would be in it. Maybe he’d be in my all-time Wales team. I also liked Hefin Jenkins as a No. 8 – a different time, yes, but he was still an excellent player.

“It’s still early days for Fletcher, but for someone so young he is doing very well. He carries strongly and works really hard in defence. He’s only been with us for a few months but already he’s led the side and he’s probably the first name on the team-sheet.”

Big kudos, then, to the region’s intercontinental scouting network and, in particular, to their former openside flanker James Davies. As a player, the man known as Cubby always had an eye for a turnover; as the Scarlets’ head of recruitment, he is showing quite an eye for talent spotting, with Blair Murray, Ellis Mee and now Anderson all on the list of winners Davies has backed since taking on his post-playing job in 2022.

Like Murray, Anderson has based himself in Cardiff, close on 60 miles from Llanelli. The assumption was the young Kiwi might go under the radar in his new surroundings, that he could head out on the capital city streets without a soul knowing who he was. But it turns out there is a Scarlets’ diaspora in the Welsh capital.

I was walking down the street the other day and my neighbour poked his head out of the window and said he was a big Scarlets fan. I could be going down to the gym and someone will come onto you and say they follow the club.

“You are not recognised much, but there are a number of Scarlets supporters in Pontcanna, where I live,” says Anderson. “I was walking down the street the other day and my neighbour poked his head out of the window and said he was a big Scarlets fan. I could be going down to the gym and someone will come onto you and say they follow the club. It does happen, but being a fair way from Llanelli, not that often.

“They love their rugby in Llanelli. In fact, I’d say the fans in Wales are as passionate as anywhere. They stick around after games and get around the players; they are rugby mad, singing and chanting and stuff. It really is something.”

A product of Christ College school in New Zealand and a graduate of the famed Crusaders Academy – “we’re not here to produce rugby robots; we’re here to grown good humans who happen to be talented athletes,” manager Paul Galland is on record as saying – Anderson opens our chat by doing that rarity, namely asking about the person with the notebook, pen and micro-recorder who’s supposed to be interviewing him, aka me. Brent Cockbain did the same back in the day, when he asked whether the chap sitting opposite him, with a deadline to meet and a pad full of shorthand notes, was enjoying the World Cup in Australia in 2003. It stuck in the memory. “Whereabouts in the world are you based, Mark?” says Anderson, who, like Cockbain, appears genuinely interested. It doesn’t happen often.

Having Scarlets team-mates Blair Murray, Taine Plumtree, Max Douglas and Archer Holz living close by is a plus, with the quintet often hooking up on days off, with coffee shops and sports centres among places frequented.

“I’m enjoying it,” says Anderson. “When I was moving over, Blair said it was a nice area with some of the boys living nearby, too. Wales is pretty similar to New Zealand in a lot of ways. When we drive to training, the countryside feels a bit like home, with a lot of rolling hills. I went up to Brecon Beacons the other day for a wander. That felt a lot like New Zealand. So I’m liking Wales a lot. There are good people here and they are super-friendly.”

Presumably, those folk west of Swansea are super-appreciative of Anderson, too. Anyone wanting an insight into his worth to the Scarlets could do worse than run the rule over a couple of minutes’ footage of their match against the Bulls in Llanelli.

The hosts were trailing 14-10 when the ball was worked back to their captain and No. 8. He wasn’t far out from the opposition whitewash, but we’ve read the script countless times when a player from a Welsh team tries to batter his way through South African lines: it doesn’t go well.

But this was different. Stocky and determined, Anderson battering-rammed into the opposition defence and, helped by a couple of his team-mates, defeated Marcell Coetzee and Handre Pollard’s attempt to stop him, with a try resulting. Next, the Kiwi youngster was first out of the line to confront Coetzee as the South African charged clear; then Anderson attempted a turnover. Call all that leading by example.

He recently signed a new contract with the Scarlets, tying him to the region until 2029. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t go unnoticed that he said he wouldn’t be averse to playing for Wales on qualifying the following year. The Welsh selectors, you’d imagine, wouldn’t be upset at such a turn of events.

You want to play international rugby, no matter where you are, because it’s the pinnacle of the sport. That’s something that will motivate me for the next few years, the potential to do that.

“I’ve been here for half a season and three more campaigns will leave me with roughly 18 months to go before I’m up to five years,” Anderson tells RugbyPass.

“A lot can change in that time and it’s a long time away to be making plans, but it was definitely something I factored in when re-signing. You want to play international rugby, no matter where you are, because it’s the pinnacle of the sport. That’s something that will motivate me for the next few years, the potential to do that.”

The former Christchurch University law and commerce student tries to avoid dwelling too much on the seemingly never-ending turbulence in Welsh rugby with the WRU’s plans for restructuring and the potential for a region to be cut. “All you can do as a player is get on with the game. You don’t have control over what’s going on, so what’s the point in reading about it?

“I try to focus on the rugby. I didn’t realise the full extent of how it was over here when I first came to Wales. I knew the WRU were looking at restructuring, but I try not to worry about it too much. You are just wasting your energy.”

It helps that he has settled so well at the Scarlets. Results may not have gone the region’s way this season but their performances have been steadily improving and they are becoming hard to beat again, an important stepping stone to getting where they want to be.

“We are not far off it,” says Anderson. “There are some outstanding players here and when we are playing well we can give most sides a game. It’s just about having time together, staying healthy and developing consistency.

“There wasn’t much in it against the Bulls. But Handre Pollard: as soon as he stepped up to kick that penalty towards the end, I thought to myself: ‘There’s not a high chance this is missing.’

“But I was really proud we put ourselves in a position to win the game – disappointed that we lost, but we showed we could build pressure and score points against a quality team.”

Anderson played fly-half and centre as a youngster, with players he looked up to including Sonny Bill Williams – “I thought he was the man” – Ryan Crotty, Rene Ranger, Robbie Freuan and Ma’a Nonu. But he switched to the forwards when he was 15 and didn’t look back, with his time at the Crusaders helping him to grow on and off the field.

You can do all the training you like and be in a world-class environment, but there’s no teacher like playing every week. That’s the way you get better.

“It was an awesome organisation to be part of,” he says. “I can’t speak highly enough about how they develop not just players but people. They make sure those who pass through are studying or learning a trade, for instance. They’ve had great success and you can see why because they have a culture that puts people first. I wouldn’t be the player I am if I hadn’t been part of their academy and done those years. It’s a special place.”

The problem was Anderson didn’t get many chances in the senior set-up, with a shoulder injury not helping. Even so, he still made it into the Rugby Pass list of New Zealand rugby’s top 50 U23 prospects in 2024. But coming to Wales and playing regularly has kicked his game on.

“You can do all the training you like and be in a world-class environment, but there’s no teacher like playing every week,” he says. “That’s the way you get better. I feel I spent enough time as a junior player and learned all I could in terms of building my body and being mentally ready to play at a high level. I worked really hard at it and just wanted to play.

“But there’s less of a tendency to rotate in New Zealand. The seasons are short and if teams don’t have to rotate they don’t. I had only two games in two years for the seniors. I was injured at times, but the depth of the squad was something else and the guys who were in front of me were big players who were playing well, and I was young.

“The Scarlets have given me a chance to play regularly and I feel my game has come on leaps and bounds – just taking the field every week and learning how I can impact matches. So, yeah, a 100 percent, it’s been a great move for me and for my game.”

Some things have taken a bit of getting used to, mind. “When I came off the pitch in the early weeks with the Scarlets it felt like I’d been out there for hours,” laughs Anderson.

“When the ball is in play up here, the game is just as fast as it is in the southern hemisphere – maybe not quite as fast, but it’s not far off. It’s what happens in between: kicking to lineouts, walking to lineouts, scrums taking ages to set. The TMO stuff seems to take longer, too.

“In New Zealand, the refs really push. As soon as the whistle is blown for a knock-on, the scrum has to be set within 30 seconds; they hurry teams at lineouts and don’t muck around with things like numbers and making calls. They hurry the tempo.”

What else is there to say? In football’s Premier League, there is much chat about who should be classed as signing of the season, with names such as Xhaka, Cherki, Semenyo, Zubimendi and Ekitike tossed into the mix.

But in Welsh rugby? No real debate on that score. Anderson has been that good.