Ospreys retain young prospect
The Ospreys signed back-row prospect Ben Lewis on a four-year contract on Wednesday, after the 21-year-old made a superb impact in his first fully professional season.
The Ospreys signed back-row prospect Ben Lewis on a four-year contract on Wednesday, after the 21-year-old made a superb impact in his first fully professional season.
Lewis debuted off the bench against Leinster at Donnybrook in January 2007, but it is this season where he has come into his own, making a further fourteen appearances and scoring three tries.
A former Wales Under-19 captain, his energy and work-rate around the pitch has already caught the eye of Warren Gatland who earlier this year tipped the Mumbles RFC product as a potential successor to Martyn Williams in the Welsh side.
Currently combining his fledgling Ospreys career with studying for a degree in sports science at Swansea University, he is the latest graduate from the successful Ospreys Academy, following in the footsteps of young Welsh internationals such as James Hook, Ian Evans and Alun Wyn Jones.
“I couldn't have realistically expected things to have gone so well for me this year, and a new contract is just the icing on the cake,” said Lewis.
“At the start of the season my main ambition was to make sure I grasped every opportunity that came my way as I knew that with the World Cup and the Six Nations I was likely to get a chance at some stage.
“Working with the likes of Ryan Jones, Marty Holah and Filo Tiatia, some of the best guys in the world in their positions in the back-row, can only help me develop as a player and the great thing is that each one of them is happy to take time out to help me work on my game.
“I think there's an element of poacher turned gamekeeper in my relationship with them though, as I'm not just looking to learn from them but to oust them from the team eventually. It's a tough ask but I'm looking forward to the future with the Ospreys.”
Lewis will be at the Liberty Stadium until the end of the 2011/12 season.