Taylor’s home from home

Swansea born tighthead prop Will Taylor is amongst the first raft of players to have linked up at Parc y Scarlets this week for a grueling start to pre-season training.

Taylor, 24, who stands at 6ft 2in and weighs in at 18st 8lbs, represented Wales at both Under 18s and Under 20s level and was a part of the Under 20s squad for the Junior World Cup in 2010 and 2011, is pleased to be back in Wales as he joins familiar faces and former teammates at the Parc.

Speaking exclusively to the Llanelli Star Will Taylor, who’s set up home in the Scarlets region says he is excited by the prospect of being back in; “It was a big change to go to London but it was a good move for me rugby wise.

“I’m back in Wales now, it’s nice to come home. Scarlets is definitely a club I want to be a part of and thought it was a good move for me. I was lucky to have the chance to go to Wasps and managed to get quite a bit of game time. The plan was always to try and come back to Wales and give it a crack.”

The Scarlets boast a strong contingent of first-team tighthead props in the shape of Samson Lee, Rhodri Jones and Peter Edwards but Taylor went on to say that the competition within the squad will spur him on; “I’ll be trying to get as many first team involvements as I can.

“There are world-class props here; Samson is one of the best at the minute in the game. Rhods is doing really well and the other side you’ve got Rob Evs. I’m a big believer in that if there are good players in your position you’re going to push each other a lot more.”

“When Rhods and Samson were away last year, Pete came in and did an awesome job. There’s a really strong pool of tightheads down here.”

Wales international Jones is a former teammate with the two props having packed down side by side for Wales Under 20s. Taylor went on to say: “When I played 20s I was tighthead and Rhods was loose. I’ve played with quite a few of the boys here; the first year would have been boys like Scott, Kirby, Shings (Steven Shingler), Cawdor (Gareth Davies).

“It was nice to come down here on the first day and see boys I know like Kirby and Shings, Rich Kelly and all those, boys I’ve played with before.

“You always know what’s coming pre-season so you just knuckle down and try and get on with it. I’m just head down training. If I get the opportunity I’ll obviously take it.”