Dragons hope to profit from Taine Basham missing Wales tour

The 24-year-old from Talywain is poised to be a key figure for the Rodney Parade club in the coming campaign after turning down English interest in favour of a new deal.

The Wales international has only committed for another season so the Dragons will aim to do swift business this time around after he only signed up in April, long after Aaron Wainwright and Rio Dyer had committed to the club.

Basham’s bargaining position will be helped if he gets back to his best in the opening months of the United Rugby Championship, and the flanker will be fresh.

The 17-times capped forward, a member of the World Cup and Six Nations squads, was overlooked for Wales’ summer clashes with South Africa and Australia despite the absence of Jac Morgan.

It means that Basham will play a full part in pre-season and be ready to fly into the Ospreys in the URC opener on September 21.

POWER: Taine Basham will be a key man for the Dragons in the coming season (Image: Gruffydd Thomas/Huw Evans Agency)

“The conversations with Taine over the summer were the most mature that I have had with him,” said head coach Dai Flanagan.

“He is well aware of where he needs to get better and what happened throughout last year, while he also reflected on how good the break could be for him.

“It was a first summer off for a long time and that provided the opportunity to recover and physically develop. He is going to be angry when he returns to the field, and that is going to be great.”

Basham made six starts at openside last season and five at number eight but the arrival of Tonga international Solomone Funaki to join Wainwright, who will miss the start of the campaign with a hamstring injury, should ensure he has a more settled campaign.

He has already profited from working closely with former All Blacks back rower Filo Tiatia, who has joined Flanagan’s backroom team as defence coach.

“Taine needs to be a seven who is complementing the number eight with his ball carrying,” said Flanagan. “It’s the nuts and bolts that he has time to work on and he has Harri Keddie chasing him down.

“Taine is a rock star player and it’s easy to forget that he is still a young man. He is so effective when carrying and in collisions, so put a couple of quality players around him and he has the potential to be the best man on the pitch.

“We aim to be more physical this season and that should suit him down to the ground.”