A PAIR of Cross Keys old boys and one new face have signed on the dotted line to play at Pandy Park next season.

The regular Premiership season may have only just finished but Keys, who finished tenth, have been busy strengthening their squad for the next campaign.

Three players have already signed on the dotted line and more are poised to follow.

Two Keys old boys are returning to the club in back row forward Marc Popham from Swansea respectively and centre/wing Nathan Williams from Newport.

Strong-scrummaging tighthead prop Marc Jones will also head south from relegated Ebbw Vale to bolster the pack.

“The theme of this year’s recruitment is experience,” said head coach Greg Woods. “We are bringing in established players who will bring competition for places and a new buzz.

“These boys want to come here which says a lot for the direction we are going in as a club.

“We are moving forward and not only do we want to be well away from the relegation battle next season but we want to push ourselves up into the top half of the table.”

Popham, 26, will add depth to a back row that already boasts Tom Lampard, Rhys Peebles and Rob Nash, the latter of whom has been one of the stars of the Premiership season, and further signings are to be made in that department.

Nathan Williams, 25, will add a cutting edge and hard running behind the scrum but it is the capture of a 28-year-old tighthead that, perhaps unsurprisingly given he used to be a hooker, excites the Keys head coach.

“Marc Jones is a quality tighthead and I have seen him destroy plenty of scrums,” said Woods.

“He gives us something we need because our scrum has not been as solid as we would like this year and we want to be in the top two in the Premiership.”

Keys have retained the core of their squad with only lock Ben Watkins, who has retired, and centre Carl Pocock, who has moved to Canada, leaving.