Scarlets lock Craig signs a new deal
SCARLETS’ player of the season Alex Craig has signed a new contract with the west Wales region.
Twenty-seven-year-old Craig, capped twice by Scotland, enjoyed a superb campaign at Parc y Scarlets, winning the players’ vote at the end-of-season awards.
He was also awarded player of the match in the Judgement Day finale against the Dragons.
His form has seen him included in Gregor Townsend’s squad for the summer tour of the Americas.
Craig said: “I thoroughly enjoyed my first year in Llanelli, the players, staff and supporters made me feel really welcome and it was great to get out there and play a lot of rugby after a couple of frustrating seasons with injury.
“We didn’t get the results we wanted, but there’s a great bunch of boys at the club working hard to turn things around. We have a young, exciting squad with some new faces coming aboard and I’m looking forward to linking up with the boys again after the summer tour ready to go again next season.”
Head coach Dwayne Peel added: “Alex had a big first year for us and being named player of the season by his fellow players was a deserved reward.
“I have spoken of him being an old-school lock, a player who gets round the field, carries aggressively and has high ruck numbers - his contribution has been invaluable this season.
“His recall to the Scotland squad is an indication of how well he has performed in a Scarlets jersey and we wish him well for the upcoming summer tour.”
NEXT year’s British & Irish Lions tour to Australia could feature no Welsh players, according to reports.
Telegraph Sport report that Lions coach Andy Farrell has been given freedom to select any player he wants for the tour and will not be constrained by any pressure to ensure representation from all four nations.
This is believed to be the first time such freedom has been afforded to a coach, with Warren Gatland ensuring that all four nations were represented in some way in his squad and coaching staff.
If Farrell were to pick on current form, a lack of obligation to pick from all four nations may mean that Welsh players struggle to get a look in.
“It will be absolutely meritbased, this is about being the ‘best of the best’ and we have to fiercely protect that,” Lions chief executive Ben Calveley said. “Things like quotas would not be in line with that mentality. Squad selection is entirely down to Andy and his assistant coaches.”