Cardiff Blues have signed the Wales international scrum-half Gareth Cooper from Guinness Premiership leaders Gloucester. The Cardiff fly-half Nicky Robinson is heading in the other direction, moving to Gloucester on a three-year contract.

Robinson's Kingsholm arrival next season, which follows Gloucester's recent swoop for ex-New Zealand No10 Carlos Spencer, is bound to raise questions about the future of the young England prospect, Ryan Lamb, at the West Country club.

Cooper, meanwhile, will return to Wales next season following previous stints in his career with Bridgend, Celtic Warriors and Newport Gwent Dragons. He started three of Wales' autumn Tests this season, but has so far failed to appear in the current RBS Six Nations campaign due to knee and groin problems.

"Gareth has undoubtedly proven over the years that he is a quality scrum-half," said the Cardiff rugby director, David Young. "There was obviously a lot of interest in him, so it is a real boost to us that he has chosen to join the Blues.

"He performed admirably for Wales during the autumn internationals and it's great that we are able to bring him back over the border."

Reflecting on his departure from the Arms Park, 12 times-capped Wales international Robinson said: "It has been one of the hardest decisions I will ever have to make in my rugby career. To decide to leave my hometown club; somewhere where I dreamt of playing and spent a large part of my career, was always going to be hard. However, it's something I felt I needed to do. I wanted to experience playing in a different environment and a different league.

"I wanted to find out for myself what it is like to play in a different league and train with different players and coaches, and change the routine that I have been doing for a number of years now."

Robinson's decision to leave Cardiff follows that of his brother Jamie, who recently agreed a deal with the French club Toulon.