PEMBROKESHIRE front row forwards Dom Booth and Kemsley Mathias have both signed new contracts at regional club Scarlets.
Booth, a dynamic hooker who played his junior rugby at Tenby, made his senior Scarlets debut in a pre-season clash against the Dragons in 2019-20, and was named on the bench for a PRO14 encounter against Edinburgh at Parc y Scarlets.
The 20 year-old, a former Greenhill School pupil has also represented Wales Under 20s, and has continued to impress the senior coaches at Parc y Scarlets this season with some impressive performances.
Meanwhile 21-year-old loose-head prop Kemsley Mathias is another who has broken into the senior ranks this season, making seven appearances in all, having played his junior rugby for Narberth.
A loose-head prop from the Haverfordwest area, he has been capped at Wales Under 18s and Under 20s level and was part of the side that conquered New Zealand at the 2019 Junior World Championships.
A former pupil at Sir Thomas Picton School, he has featured for Scarlets A in the Celtic Cup for the last two seasons and for Carmarthen Quins in the Welsh Premiership, having previously represented Crymych.
Four other 'home-grown players' have been offered senior Scarlets contracts in lock Jac Price, centres Joe Roberts and Ioan Nicholas, and back-rower Iestyn Rees.
Scarlets general manager of rugby Jon Daniels said: “We have a proud record here at the Scarlets of bringing through home-grown talent, many of whom have gone on to win international honours with Wales and the Lions.
“These six boys started out playing mini and junior rugby for our grassroots clubs, have come through the age-grade pathway at the Scarlets, representing Wales at U18s and U20s level and are now making their mark in our senior team.
“We have always put a huge emphasis on developing our own, and we are looking forward to seeing how Jac, Ioan, Joe, Dom, Iestyn and Kemsley progress in their professional careers.”
Iestyn Rees was part of the Wales U20s squad at the World Junior Championships in Argentina in 2019, and the Llandeilo and Ysgol Bro Dinefwr product made a try-scoring Scarlets debut against the Dragons last month.
Jac Price is a product of Carmarthen Quins RFC and Ysgol Bro Myrddin, and the 21-year-old second row made his PRO14 debut against Edinburgh in November. He has spent time at Nottingham RFC on loan this season.
Joe Roberts, the 21-year-old centre from Burry Port, made his PRO14 debut against the Ospreys earlier this month, having been at English Championship side Ampthill on loan.
And Ioan Nicholas is the youngest player to represent the Scarlets at the age of 17 years and 134 days. He has already racked up 47 appearances in a Scarlets jersey. The 23-year-old, who can play wing or centre, came through the ranks at Pontyberem RFC.
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