{"id":1155373,"date":"2026-08-18T09:57:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1155373\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T09:57:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:57:23","slug":"rugby-transfers-wales-star-makes-decision-on-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1155373\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby Transfers: Wales star makes decision on future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wales<\/a> centre Eddie James has made a call on his future while Newcastle Red Bulls secure the services of an academy graduate on a long-term deal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are all the latest rugby rumours, transfers<\/a> and contract renewals.<\/p>\n

Eddie James commits to Welsh rugby<\/p>\n

Wales Test back James has recommitted his future to URC side Scarlets, signing a fresh deal with the Llanelli-based team.<\/p>\n

The Carmarthen-native has spent the entirety of his career in the Scarlets system, and has notched 53 senior appearances for the club to date. In that time, he has also become a regular feature in the Wales squad, winning 11 senior caps.<\/p>\n

He becomes the latest player to re-sign with the Scarlets for next season, following Fletcher Anderson,\u00a0Dan Davis, Gareth Davies, Jac Davies, Will Evans, Gabe Hawley, Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, Sam Lousi, Josh Macleod, Harri O\u2019Connor and Henry Thomas in the process.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Nigel Davies\u2019 side have also added Tom Allen, Gareth Anscombe, Chris Apoua, Harvey Cuckson, Corey Domachowski, Cullen Grace, Alex Groves, John McKee, Isaac Murray-Macgregor and George Roberts to their squad for next season.<\/p>\n

Springboks haven\u2019t got any \u2018negative feedback\u2019 from World Rugby as Rassie Erasmus and Jaco Peyper hit back at accusations<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Commenting on his new deal with the club, James said: \u201cGrowing up in the region and supporting the Scarlets as a youngster, the club means a huge amount to me, it\u2019s home to me and so it was an easy decision to extend my contract and I am delighted to be staying on at Parc y Scarlets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an exciting season ahead for us. The new signings have added to the talent we already have and there\u2019s a clear ambition about where we want to go as a group. There\u2019s competition building and that will push standards and make us a better team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to getting back in with the boys next week, getting my head down in training and building towards a massive opening URC game of the season against Cardiff here at the Parc. It would be great to have a big crowd to kick off the new chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scarlets<\/a> director of rugby Davies added: \u201cKeeping Eddie at Parc y Scarlets is a very significant signing for our club and we are delighted he will continue his rugby journey with us.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving players like Eddie at the heart of what we\u2019re building is every bit as important as new players coming into the squad. We\u2019re proud of our ethos of developing our own players and we want to give our young Welsh players an environment in which they know they can achieve their ambitions in a Scarlets jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cEddie has come through our pathway, represented Wales through the age grades and is now an established international player. That\u2019s a journey we want other young players to mirror across our region and to be able to see and believe in.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe exciting thing with Eddie is that there is still so much more to come from him. He\u2019s only 24 and has some outstanding physical qualities. He\u2019s big, powerful and explosive, but he\u2019s also got the skill-set to play the type of rugby we\u2019re building here.<\/p>\n

\u201cEddie has already achieved a lot, but his best rugby should still be ahead of him, and it\u2019s great that he sees the Scarlets as the place to deliver it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re building around a strong core of Scarlets-developed players, adding quality and experience around them and creating genuine competition throughout the group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newcastle Red Bulls tie down key prospect in latest retention call<\/p>\n

PREM outfit Newcastle Red Bulls<\/a> have re-signed lock Oscar Usher to a fresh three-year deal.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old forward made his debut for the club in the 2024\/25 season, but enjoyed a breakthrough campaign last time out with 20 appearances in all competitions. Of those, he also started in 16 games.<\/p>\n

All Blacks great: The notable \u2018messaging\u2019 from Dave Rennie as they prepare to face Springboks \u2018juggernaut\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

As a result of his form last season, Usher was voted Newcastle\u2019s Young Player of the Year, and has now put pen to paper on a long-term deal with the ambitious club.<\/p>\n

Commenting on extending his time at Red Bulls, Usher said: \u201cI\u2019m really happy to be extending with the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very exciting time for Newcastle Red Bulls, and I\u2019m grateful I get to be a part of the new era.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newcastle head coach, Dan McFarland, added: \u201cCreating opportunities for young local players is a massive part of what Newcastle Red Bulls are about, and Oscar has seized his chance by showing a tremendous work ethic and desire to improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a club we are absolutely committed to keeping our best young talent on board during this exciting period of growth. Oscar is a great example of a player stepping up and taking his opportunity, and I am very much looking forward to working with him over the next few seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

His re-signing also comes amid the backdrop of a major squad overhaul at Kingston Park, with 23 fresh recruits headed to the North East, including England international Raffi Quirke and All Blacks star and soon-to-be English-qualified Hoskins Sotutu.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Top 10 flankers in rugby: Springboks machine tops chart from All Blacks great and Ireland\u2019s most versatile forward<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wales centre Eddie James has made a call on his future while Newcastle Red Bulls secure the services…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1155374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,126,4884,225,2466,12,6875,15033,2357,16,15,4510,1764],"class_list":["post-1155373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wales","tag-britain","tag-features","tag-great-britain","tag-home-page","tag-newcastle","tag-news","tag-premiership","tag-scarlets","tag-transfers","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-rugby-championship","tag-wales"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117115921688796190","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1155373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1155374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1155373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1155373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1155373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}