Planet Rugby

Faletau focused on Dragons

04th January 2013 10:00

Wales number eight Toby Faletau is unfazed by the speculation surrounding his future, according to Dragons coach Rob Appleyard.

Faletau was heavily linked last week with a move to Bath in the Aviva Premiership, with the English side reportedly set to offer the Dragons a six-figure sum to sign the 22-year old.

However, Appleyard has said that Faletau has not been distracted by the speculation and continued to work hard in training, whilst also stating that ideally the Dragons would like to keep the 21-cap forward in Wales given the loss of Dan Lydiate at the end of this season.

"I don't think it's fazing him," said Appleyard to Wales Online.

"Toby turns up and trains as hard as anybody, whether he's just come back from an international campaign or whether he's been with us for a few weeks. He's a one-off character without a shadow of a doubt. He's a really good rugby player.

"We can talk about a new line-up set-up, which he's never heard of before and he goes in and delivers it having heard it just once.

"So he's a very coachable player and listens a lot. But one thing that's on my mind is we wouldn't want to overcoach him so he loses his X-factor. It's almost the way he runs he doesn't care.

"He runs as though he doesn't even know people are trying to tackle him sometimes. He just seems to run and beat people.

"We want Toby to stay. We understand it's not always that easy. If you are being offered double or treble your wages, would you take it to move to the south of France? I am sure most people would contemplate it.

"Obviously we want to keep Toby with us. He has got another season with us. It's out of my remit, but I'm sure talks are going on behind the scenes to retain Toby's services. But, at the end of the day, it comes down to what the individual wants to do."

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