Rhys Priestland is sacrificing his international future by leaving the Scarlets to join Bath after the World Cup on a two-year contract. Even though he will become the third Wales fly-half to earn his living in the Premiership after Owen Williams and James Hook, he is the first to move there since a policy of considering exiles for the national side only under exceptional circumstances was introduced.
Priestland, who turns 28 on Friday, will not be a guaranteed starter for Bath, where England’s George Ford is the first-choice fly-half, but he is expected to announce he will be retiring from international rugby after the World Cup, increasing his value to the West Country club.
Priestland, who made his name during the 2011 World Cup, is no longer Wales’s first-choice fly-half, having lost his place to Dan Biggar, and Gareth Anscombe arrived from New Zealand in the autumn to add to the competition at 10. Priestland was booed by a small section of the Millennium Stadium crowd last November, so Bath will seem a sanctuary.
“The booing cannot have helped,” Phil Bennett, the former Wales fly-half, who is the Scarlets’ president, said. “My friends tell me that Rhys has taken a fair amount of stick on Twitter and I think it has affected his confidence. I’ve noticed that sometimes he’ll miss a conversion or a penalty and his head will drop a little bit, whereas other guys will just throw it aside and get on with the game. Perhaps he wants to go to a different place and enjoy his rugby for a couple of years. Life moves on.”
Bath say the recruitment of Priestland, who signed for the club 24 hours after the uncapped Williams agreed a new deal with Leicester, is part of their policy of having at least two players of top quality in every position, at least as far as the salary cap allows. As well as competing with Ford, Priestland will be an option at full-back.
“We make no apologies for stockpiling really good players within the salary cap,” said the Bath coach, Toby Booth. “It is important to have massive strength in depth in the Premiership and to be successful in Europe. You also need positional variation and as well as pushing George, Rhys will be an option at 15. He has come here to play: Owen Farrell is only as good as he is because he has Charlie Hodgson contending.
“Our conversation with Rhys was based on his establishing himself as our first-choice outside-half. He would not have come here otherwise. Whether he makes himself available for Wales after the World Cup is his decision: he is simply coming to a place where he believes he has the opportunity to improve.”
Since being dropped to the bench by Wales at the end of the 2014 Six Nations, the 32-cap Priestland has made only one start for Wales, against Samoa last November, and he admitted before the autumn series that Biggar deserved to be selected ahead of him. He did, though, get the better of his rival during last weekend’s Pro12 derby between the Scarlets and Ospreys.
“I am very sad to see him go because he came through the system at the Scarlets and has been an outstanding player for the region,” said Bennett. “We saw the real Rhys Priestland last Saturday: he ran with freedom, expressed himself and it was the best I had seen him play for a very long time. Losing him is a big blow.”
Priestland,who has made 147 appearances for the Scarlets and scored 1,059 points, said leaving Parc y Scarlets was a wrench. His arrival at the Recreation Ground raises questions over the future there of another Welshman, Gavin Henson, whose contract runs out at the end of the season. He has been linked with a move to Bristol.
“We are waiting for Gavin to get back to fitness,” said Booth. “I have not heard anything about Bristol. Everyone knows he is out of contract but he has not been able to put his best foot forward for a couple of months.”
