Cardiff Blues are delighted to confirm that Blues, Wales and Lions flanker Martyn Williams has agreed a contract extension with the region.
Williams had been linked with a move to London Wasps, however, the former Blues captain has put pen to paper that will see him end his career at the Cardiff City Stadium.
“I’ve signed a year extension and happy that it’s all done and dusted,” said Williams.
“It’s where I wanted to finish off and I’ve made no secret about that.”
“I’m over the moon that the club have come to an agreement that I will have my last season here.”
“Peter Thomas, David Young and Bob Norster have all worked hard to make this happen and I’m glad that it has all been sorted out.”
“In fairness Dai never said that he wanted to release me and I totally understood the clubs reasons for not doing things immediately.”
“It wasn’t a great couple of weeks, with the speculation and not being in the Wales squad, but I’ve tried to keep my head down and carried on playing for the region.”
“I was fortunate that the Blues had some big Magners League games so I could concentrate on them.”
“I’ve been here since 1999, so I didn’t really want to go anywhere else, I wanted to finish here, so I’m glad I’ve been given that opportunity.”
“I did weigh everything up, whether to go to play in England or France or completely retire from the game in June.”
“However, I’m still feeling well and playing well, and think I have something to offer the Blues next year.”
Speaking of being omitted from this year’s Six Nations squad, the 98 times capped forward said,
“Obviously, it was strange not being involved in the Six Nations and of course you miss it.”
“But I didn’t have too much time to think about Wales apart from the days of the internationals.”
“I went to both home games and enjoyed them as I was a bit more relaxed than usual.”
“However, I’ve enjoyed being in the Blues camp when the internationals were away, even though it was odd.”
“It was good to see some of the youngsters step up, guys like Dan Fish, Dafydd Hewitt and Andries Pretorius put in some big performances, so the future looks bright.”
With the Blues currently fifth in the Magners League, Williams continued:
“Because of the play-offs every game is huge and we are really challenging to be in the top four.”
“We’re in a good spot. We’ve got a game in hand, even though we have got some tough away matches coming up.”
“We set ourselves a target of a minimum of winning three of the four games during the Six Nations and we did that.”
“We set ourselves up for these last six games and have got a lot of firepower coming back from the international squads which will help.”
“These next two games are massive for us, but if we can win both that will set us up nicely.”
Speaking of Martyn’s announcement, Cardiff Blues Director of Rugby, David Young, added,
“I’ve repeatedly said that Martyn Williams wasn’t definitely leaving the club.”
“What I did say was, I would do everything within my power, with the support of Peter Thomas, to keep Martyn here for another year, so I’m delighted that he has agreed.”
“Nobody recognises more than me the value and the commitment Martyn has given to the Blues and that should be repaid from us as well.”
“Hopefully Martyn will have a great season to finish off his career next year.”
“He obviously looks after himself and he’s certainly not going to harm his reputation by playing for another season.”
“If he didn’t feel he had another year in him, he would be the first to say so.”
“I think if you look at his performances recently he’s been as good as he’s been for the last two or three years.”
“I know he’s going to be really keen to finish with a bang and I’m 100% confident that Martyn will do that, not only with his performances on the field, but also the way he helps a lot of the youngsters coming through as a role model.”
“It makes sense for us to retain him for another year.”
“Thankfully we have come to an agreement for another season and he will finish his career here at the Blues, where he should be.”
Cardiff Blues play Munster on Friday 25 March, 7.05pm kick off in what will be this seasons Ladies Day match. Tickets for female supporters are available for only £10 and there’s sure to be plenty to keep them busy with champagne, singers, dancers and number of stands including John Lewis, DW Sports in the Supporters quarter.
Gates to the Supporters Quarter open from 5:30pm and fans are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy all the activities. A free goodybag is available for the first 200 to arrive.
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