URC: Dragons boss Flanagan hunting overseas signings

The Rodney Parade club are reshaping their squad for next season and head coach Dai Flanagan has been busy sorting retention.

Wales stars Aaron Wainwright and Rio Dyer have already signed fresh deals while talks are “ongoing” with their Six Nations teammate Taine Basham.

However, Flanagan is also pressing on with recruitment and has created room in his budget to bring in some experienced talent from overseas.

The Welsh professional clubs will be operating with a salary cap of £4.5million next season and the Dragons will look to sign established campaigners.

“We are actively trying to enhance and improve our squad by bringing players in,” said Flanagan, who is being helped by rugby consultant Paul Turner.

“Recruitment is big for us and we are looking to sign experienced players who will be here week in, week out.

STAR: Cardiff's Casey Laulala on the run against the Dragons (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

“I played in an era when Casey Laulala played with Jamie Roberts, Ben Blair played with Leigh Halfpenny, Xavier Rush played with Sam Warburton.

“We've got these kids but we need to put the mechanisms around them to fast-track their development.”

The Dragons looked to bolster their second row last season and secured a deal with South African Deon Slabbert, only for the move to collapse due to personal reasons.

Flanagan intends to add some bulk to his squad, especially up front, and that means looking outside of Wales.

“As long as we do it right and manage our core squad correctly, we can bring in a sprinkling of overseas players,” he said.

“It's an area for us to focus on because it's quite simple, our recruitment policy needs to be 'big'. We need to be a bigger team and to do that we have to go into the market.

“We have a couple that we are getting over the line that will be announced in due course. They will enhance our squad and give us a little bit more punch in our game.”

Dragons boss Dai Flanagan (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

The Dragons will need to have some outs to go along with the ins, while some squad members are likely to get offered reduced terms.

Flanagan & Co are working to tie their brightest young talent down on longer contracts while keeping a core of regulars.

A new two-year deal for stalwart Matthew Screech was announced on Wednesday and more news will come soon.

“We are probably 90 per cent done,” said the head coach about retention. “There are a couple of players who are 'am I staying or going?' because we have to see how the rest fall in line.

“The majority squad are clear [about their futures] and I can just wholeheartedly apologise if there is ambiguity for any players, but unfortunately that's just the world we live in.

“It's still early and I've been very transparent with anyone about where they stand.”