The Scarlets are closing in on the signature of South Africa World Cup-winning former lock Albert van den Berg as their new forwards coach.
Van den Berg is one of the most highly-rated forward coaches in South Africa, and has decided not to renew his contract with United Rugby Championship outfit Lions.
The 49-year-old, who won the 2007 World Cup, is likely to replace former All Blacks prop Ben Franks, who is expected to return to New Zealand at the end of the season.
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Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel has been busy assembling a strong backroom team to help the west Walians through what is likely to be some difficult times given the off-field issues in Welsh rugby.
And van den Berg looks the perfect fit to take charge of the Scarlets forwards to work alongside defence coach Gareth Williams and scrum coach Emyr Phillips.
The future of attack guru Lee Blackett is up in the air, with the former Wasps boss linked with a number of high-profile head coaching jobs.
Sources in South Africa have told WalesOnline van den Berg was very popular with the players at the Lions, and is one of the best technical coaches in the Rainbow Nation.
Van den Berg was recently the subject of much controversy in South Africa, with media outlet Rapport reporting he had accused a colleague of photographing private WhatAapp conversations with his agent. The Lions have experienced significant problems off the field and a chance of security at the Scarlets has appealed to the former Springbok.
But his quality as a coach is not in question, and this seems to be a significant coup for the Scarlets, who have also targeted strengthening their pack for next season.
Wales playmaker Ioan Lloyd has already signed from Bristol Bears while they have brought speedster Tomi Lewis back from Jersey, but they are in need of recruits up front too.
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