Tomos Williams and Gareth Anscombe: Wales duo bring partnership to Gloucester

Williams was the first to agree terms to move to Gloucester, with his signing announced last January.

The move brought to an end a decade at Cardiff that saw the 29-year-old surpass 140 appearances, following one of his best campaigns for the club in 2023-24. He picked up his 58th cap for Wales this summer on the tour to Australia.

“I wanted to play in the Premiership, I wanted to give that challenge a go, I’ve heard a lot of good things,” Williams said.

“When I spoke to Skivs [George Skivington, Gloucester’s director of rugby] and a couple of staff I was really impressed by them, took a wander round the pace and the facilities are great.

“Put that on top of the crowd they get, the Shed, whenever I’ve watched Gloucester it seems like a real good atmosphere.”

New Zealand-born Anscombe, 33, followed shortly after, although his transfer came during an injury-disrupted season that means he has not played since the World Cup last October.

He left Ospreys at the end of 2022-23 and signed for Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath in Japan but saw his registration cancelled after he picked up a groin injury at the tournament in France.

Instead, Anscombe found himself in “no-man’s land” looking for other opportunities.

“I spoke to Tommy during the Six Nations when we started having informal chats,” said Anscombe, who has 37 Wales caps.

“We were quite excited to link back up again. Having previous experience of playing with mates before helps, particularly in our partnership as a nine and 10. We’ve been fairly familiar with each other’s games.”