Newport Gwent Dragons have signed former Wales U20 prop Tom Davies from Cardiff Blues.
The move comes after Dragons head coach Kingsley Jones suffered a blow to his pre-season plans when loose-head Phil Price underwent surgery on a shoulder injury.
Davies, 23, was released by the Blues despite making 14 appearances for the region last season.
He becomes the third front rower to move from the Arms Park to Rodney Parade this summer following the recruitment of loose-head Sam Hobbs and tight-head Craig Mitchell.
“Tom is a big, strong lad who is good at every aspect of the game,” said Jones, who has taken over the reins at Rodney Parade from previous director of rugby Lyn Jones.
“He has played 50 games at regional level and was a member of a very good Wales Under-20s team, so we feel we are getting a prop who will help us in the short term but, importantly, can really develop in the long term.
“We’ve signed Sam Hobbs for this season but if we lost him then we would be in a difficult situation, down to Brok Harris (primarily a tighthead) and two props of potential in Keagan Bale and Luke Garrett.
“They are project props who are unproven at this level while Tom has experience and now has a chance to impress us.”
Davies follows Hobbs, Mitchell, hooker Darran Harris, centre Sam Beard, centre Pat Howard and fly-half/full-back Nick Macleod in arriving at the Dragons this summer.
Davies said: “I am really grateful for the opportunity that Kingsley has given me with the Dragons.
“They are an exciting squad with many talented youngsters and despite having a tough season last year are making strides in the right direction.
“Looking back at my time with Cardiff Blues my chances were very limited, which resulted in me being added into the team and then taken out of it continuously, so I am looking forward to challenging for a first team position and for my game time be a lot more consistent.”
