Lee Byrne targeting Super League after being appointed South Wales boss
Tuesday 6 September 2016 16:04, UK
Former Wales and British and Irish Lions full-back Lee Byrne has set his sights on taking South Wales into Super League after being unveiled as the club's new director of rugby.
Officials say Byrne's appointment will signal the dawn of a new era for the Kingstone Press League 1 club who have changed their name to Ironmen after competing for the past decade as South Wales Scorpions and will relocate to Wern Sports Park, home of Merthyr RFC, in 2017.
Byrne, who started his career playing both codes of rugby - union for Bridgend Athletic and league with Bridgend Blue Bulls - hung up his boots in April 2015 at the age of 34 after failing to recover from a shoulder injury.
"It's great to have this opportunity to continue my rugby career as part of a brand new project developing rugby league in South Wales," Byrne said.
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"It's where I started my amateur rugby career - as did a lot of of Welsh rugby greats - and I believe this will be a fantastic way to get youngsters engaged in the sport and fans enthused to watch it.
"As director of rugby, it's fantastic to be able to help develop this new team as it makes the move to state-of-the-art facilities at the Wern in Merthyr."
Bridgend-born Byrne was capped 46 times by his country, playing his best rugby as Wales claimed the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2008, and was also first-choice full-back for the Lions in South Africa in 2009. He played at club level in union for Scarlets, Ospreys, Newport Gwent Dragons and Clermont Auvergne.
Ironmen director Marc Lovering said: "To have someone of Lee's calibre believe in what we are trying to build and to want to get involved is a huge boost for everyone involved with the club and for rugby league in South Wales.
"Lee would not have got involved unless he believed in our aspirations and ambitions. He is an intelligent guy with a great deal of experience in elite level sport. We are all looking forward to working with him."
