The Dragons are delighted to announce a new Elite Rugby Partnership with Llandovery College to develop elite homegrown rugby talent in Wales. Llandovery College has established a reputation as one of the premier rugby schools in the country and will grow its rugby provision by teaming up with Dragons in a new partnership to further develop elite rugby talent. This new agreement gives aspiring young players associated with the Dragons Player Pathway Programme a unique opportunity to join the Llandovery College Elite Rugby Programme.

Dragons will also provide ‘master class’ coaching sessions with its players and coaches supporting the school’s programme to develop the rugby stars of tomorrow.

Mark Hewitt, Interim Academy Manager at Dragons, said: “We’re pleased to launch our partnership with Llandovery College, supporting the pathway for young Dragons and the Welsh Exiles programme. This relationship will allow us to extend our player pathway programme even further, providing us with an exciting opportunity of identifying and developing future talent. We look forward to working closely with Ioan Cunningham, Nathan Thomas and all the team at Llandovery College to deliver an education and rugby pathway in a bid to retain young Welsh talent in Wales.”

With more than 50 former students awarded over 550 caps for Wales, Llandovery College has an outstanding rugby record eclipsing all other Welsh schools in the history of the game. Llandovery College has a proud reputation for producing top-level Welsh rugby players with the likes of current Wales and British & Irish Lions stars George North and Alun Wyn Jones among its alumni.

James Chapron, Rugby General Manager at Dragons, added: “This link is a fantastic example of how we can all work successfully together and support young players with educational and rugby opportunities to remain in Wales. The development of young players through our Academy system underpins all we do at Dragons and so our thanks go to the Warden of Llandovery College, Dominic Findlay and the Board of Llandovery College for their support.”

Dominic Findlay added: “We are hugely excited to work with the Dragons team over the next year, and view such a partnership as a huge positive for our College programme and also one which will assist the Dragons to keep Welsh talent closer to home.”