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French side hot in pursuit of Wales star Gareth Anscombe
By Ian Cameron
Injured Wales and Ospreys star Gareth Anscombe is said be the latest signing target of a French side as a predicted exodus from Wales appears to continue.
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The Welsh URC regions have been able to guarantee the terms of new contracts for their players, which has created a field day for big-spending French sides to table lucrative deals for top Welsh stars.
The side has verbally agreed on a budgeting framework but clubs are still thrashing out the exact details, leaving many players in limbo over their immediate futures.
Last week Dragons RFC officially lost the services of Wales lock Will Rowlands, who signed for Racing 92.
Now, according to Midi Olympique, Top 14 side Pau are hot in pursuit of flyhalf Anscombe. With 36 caps to his name such a move would end his Test career with Wales, which has been bedevilled by injuries in recent years.
The playmaker is apparently in ‘advanced contact’ with the French team.
Anscombe is likely to miss this year’s Guinness Six Nations after suffering a shoulder injury in the Autumn Nations Series while on Wales duty against Australia.
Top scorer at the 2011 IRB Junior World Championships with 84 points, Anscombe kicked 18 points in a 33-22 win over England in the final to guide his native New Zealand to a world title.
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Just two years later, his stylish performances helped guide the Chiefs to 2013 Super Rugby success, as he finished top scorer with 166 points from 13 games across the season, including five tries, as his team were crowned the best in the Southern Hemisphere.
Dual qualified due to his Welsh mother, Anscombe headed north in 2014, linking up with Cardiff Blues, for whom he has played 76 times to date and scored 597 points, the most notable undoubtedly being the 78th minute penalty he kicked to secure a 31-30 win over Gloucester in Bilbao in 2018, clinching the European Rugby Challenge Cup for his team.
His Wales debut came at Principality Stadium in August 2015, a Rugby World Cup warm-up against Ireland, his first senior international start at Twickenham two months later, against Australia.
