North Wales is crucial claims Scarlets boss
Jan 11 2010 by Our Correspondent, Daily Post
SCARLETS head coach Nigel Davies believes each of the four professional sides have the right to cherry pick the best from North Wales.
North Walians Rob Higgitt, Rob McCusker and Andy Fenby are current Scarlets, while academy starlets Joel Galley, Rhodri Jones and George North also all hail from the north, but Davies accepts each of Wales’ regions now has the right to seek out the North’s top talent.
And he also acceptss the Scarlets’ efforts to develop rugby in North Wales have not been entirely fruitful.
“We’ve obviously tried to do it with varying degrees of success,” said Davies. “It’s been difficult, I think, due to the geography and the financial resources to do it properly.
“And obviously now North Wales has been set up as a development region, which almost sets them apart a little bit from ourselves, but we are still very keen to continue some of the links we have in North Wales.
But Davies was all in favour of a North Wales region, adding: “I’m not too sure on how the region are looking at it, but I’m a firm believer that the north of Wales does need its own identity.
“That will only help grow the game in Wales and the north of Wales and means that we have more player numbers in the whole of Wales to choose from.
“So I’m a firm believer in that.”
