Cardiff Blues A have brought another player in ahead of the Celtic Cup getting underway this weekend as former loosehead prop Thomas Davies trains with the side.

The 26-year-old came through the Cardiff Blues Academy, going on to make his first team debut against Connacht at the start of the 2012/13 season. He would make 49 appearances in all competitions over the next four seasons before departing for Dragons in the summer of 2016.

34 appearances in two seasons at Rodney Parade followed as he tried to earn a spot in Bernard Jackman’s redeveloping of the Dragons squad, but found himself released at the end of the 2017/18 campaign, returning to the Arms Park to sign with Cardiff RFC.

Davies quickly became an integral part of the Blue and Blacks squad under Steve Law, playing 33 times last season and helping the team to second in the Premiership and a WRU National Cup triumph.

He will now boost loosehead prop numbers in the Cardiff Blues A squad with no looseheads currently close to the senior academy level, as well as a lack of depth at the position in the first team.

Brad Thyer and Corey Domachowski are the only fit candidates to fill the number one jersey with Rhys Gill recovering from a shoulder injury, while Gethin Jenkins retired last November and Rhys Carre moved to Saracens over the summer.

Davies joins fellow Cardiff RFC team-mates Callum Bradbury and James Ratti in stepping up to Cardiff Blues A, as well as Glamorgan Wanderers’ Anthony Cox and RGC’s Tim Grey.