Ross Moriarty will be staying at the Dragons next season with his boss Dean Ryan describing Stade Francais’ interest in the Wales star as “fantasy rugby”.
It’s been reported in the French press that the Parisian club are targeting the 54-cap back row man and are willing to buy him out of the remaining year of his contract. You can read that story here.
But Dragons director of rugby Ryan has made it clear 28-year-old Moriarty is going nowhere. “There’s only one club he’s going to be at next season and that’s definitely us,” he said.
Asked about Stade’s interest, he said: “I am never surprised that people can play fantasy rugby by going who they would like to play for their team. It’s pretty obvious everyone would want a Ross in their team, so I’m not sure why that makes an article, but there we go.”
If Moriarty were to head for France, he would become ineligible for Wales under the 60-cap rule. So that, combined with him being under contract, looks to destroy any prospect of a move across the channel. He is currently sidelined with nerve damage to his left leg from the game against the Sharks at the beginning of this month, Moriarty being stretchered off the field with his knee in a brace. It’s unclear when he will be able to return to action and whether the injury will impact his hopes of going on Wales’ summer tour of South Africa.
Ryan said: “It’s difficult to give an accurate update. I’ve seen nerve damage to shoulders before and he’s got something very similar in his leg. It’s not something where you go in three weeks time this will have behaved like this. That’s frustrating for Ross because he’s keen to get back out on the field.”
