Welsh 'turbulence' will not hit Dragons' recruitment
· Yahoo Sports
Dragons chief executive Rhys Blumberg is confident that "turbulence" caused by uncertainty over the future of professional rugby in Wales will not hit their recruitment drive.
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The Rodney Parade club are having an encouraging campaign after a horrendous 2024-25 in which they finished bottom of the United Rugby Championship (URC) and won just twice.
Filo Tiatia's side are on a five-game unbeaten run in Newport, are 14th in the URC, within a win of 10th, and will face Stade Francais in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup.
Dragons are improving despite the uncertainty caused by the Welsh Rugby Union's plans to cut four men's clubs to three, with one in the east, one in Cardiff and one in the west.
"I don't think that the landscape is helpful in Welsh rugby," admitted Blumberg. "There has been some turbulence in conversations with players about what the future looks like.
"But I don't think that it has hamstrung us enough that we can't get the players we are after."
Dragons are looking to make "three to four" signings and, after signing a new Professional Rugby Agreement with the WRU last year, will operate on a bigger player budget than this season.
Replacing talisman Aaron Wainwright is a priority after the Wales number eight opted to turn down contract offers in favour of a fresh challenge with Leicester.
"Losing Aaron was a massive blow for us as a club and we threw everything at keeping him," said Blumberg.
"We offered him the opportunity to stay on favourable terms, but he explained that he wanted to experience something else outside of Gwent.
"With that in mind, replacing Aaron is at the forefront of our recruitment process and we have some great candidates that Filo and the team are talking to."
Wainwright has made 131 appearances for Dragons and is currently showing what they will miss as one of Wales' standout performers in the Six Nations.
"There is only one Aaron Wainwright so we have got to find someone who can do more than half the job," said head coach Tiatia.
"It takes a while to find the right person when trying to replace someone like for like. We are talking to a lot of young men that fit the bill before we pull the trigger."
De Beer 'going nowhere'
Tinus de Beer spent two seasons with Cardiff [Huw Evans Agency]Fly-half Tinus de Beer, who has made 16 appearances since making the short move from Cardiff, had been linked with a move to Bulls in his native South Africa.
The 30-year-old remains under contract for next season and will not be leaving, even if half-backs are on their shopping list.
"All of our frontline players attract interest from other clubs," said Blumberg. "We are often approached about our talent and all that I will say on Tinus is that he is locked in and he is here for next year.
"He is playing really well, is a great man and is such a fantastic influence on our squad and environment. He is going nowhere."
Dragons have already confirmed a contract extension for promising scrum-half Che Hope with more new deals set to be announced in the coming weeks.