Dragons sign Welsh hooker Oli Burrows from Exeter Chiefs

The Rodney Parade club have made the 21-year-old from Neath their fifth summer signing.

While centre Harry Wilson, lock Steve Cummins and back rowers Shane Lewis-Hughes and Solomone Funaki are readymade for the first team, Burrows is a signing with plenty of potential who will aim to push into Dai Flanagan’s XV.

Wales hooker Elliot Dee is first choice and is backed up by stalwart James Benjamin, Brodie Coghlan and Sam Scarfe.

The arrival of Burrows suggests Wales international Bradley Roberts’ time at Rodney Parade is coming to an end.

EXIT? Bradley Roberts could be set to leave the Dragons (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

The 28-year-old was a high-profile signing from Ulster in 2022 and is currently sidelined with a neck/back injury that has needed specialist advice.

Roberts’ deal expires this summer but he wasn’t on the Dragons’ list of confirmed leavers that was announced last week.

The senior Wales forward looks set for the exit and a Wales age-grade international is arriving in Burrows.

The promising prospect is listed as 6ft 2ins and 17st 4lb – taller and heavier than all of the other hookers on the Dragons’ books.

Head Coach Dai Flanagan said: “Oli is a big human and is still a young man at 21, but he has a lot of potential.

“It’s great we can bring someone like him back home to Wales, he is an ambitious player who will look to drive competition in the front row.

“He’s a former Wales Under-20s international so we are excited to see how he can develop further here at the Dragons.”

SIGNING: Oli Burrows, pictured for Wales U20s, is joining the Dragons from Exeter (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

Burrows was part of the Ospreys academy but moved to Exeter in 2020 and featured for the Chiefs in the Premiership Cup and has spent time on loan at Cornish Pirates.

Burrows said: “I’m really excited for the opportunity to return home to Wales and become a part of such an ambitious club going forward.

“It’s clear that Dai and the coaches are building something exciting at the club and I’m looking forward to fighting for a place in the matchday squad each week and bettering myself each day alongside some quality players.

“I can’t wait to reunite with some familiar faces from Wales age-grade sides over the years and play a part in getting the Dragons to where they belong.”

The Dragons have signed five players for next season while tighthead Dmitri Arhip and wing/centre Chris Hollis have been brought in on short-term deals until the end of the United Rugby Championship campaign with a view to longer stays.