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BREAKING: Leigh Halfpenny may just have agreed terms with a club
The future appears to be clearing for out-of-work Wales and Lions fullback Leigh Halfpenny, according to reports.
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He is set to join Scarlets on a three-year National Dual Contract (NDC), which would see the Welsh Rugby Union pick up 60% of his wage bill, The Times has said.
The move makes sense, as Scarlets look to plug the gap left following Liam Williams’ move to Saracens.
Halfpenny has been out of contract since leaving Toulon to be third-choice fullback on the Lions’ tour of New Zealand after helping the Top 14 side reach the final of this year’s French competition.
Club owner Mourad Boudjellal withdrew a one-year extension to his contract, worth a reported €750,000 a year, a week after Halfpenny had left the club to go on tour days before the showpiece match against Clermont in Paris.
Boudjellal said at the time that he had taken the deal off the table as Halfpenny missed too many matches due to injuries and international commitments.
His future has been shrouded in mystery and speculation ever since, with clubs linked to his signature – including English Premiership sides Bath, Wasps and Leicester – falling by the wayside almost as soon as their names are mentioned.
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Scarlets themselves had previously publicly ruled themselves out of the race for the player’s signature. They said their recruitment plans were complete and that they could not afford another high-profile player, even on an NDC.
A proposed deal for him to join the WRU-owned Dragons had fallen through in March, while Blues and Ospreys – who already have Dan Evans, Sam Davies and James Hook already on the books – were also said to be uninterested in putting pen to paper on an NDC deal for Halfpenny.
