At a time of financial constraints across British club rugby, all teams are looking to gain a recruitment advantage by unearthing value signings their rivals aren’t aware of.

While the sport’s transfer market has been and continues to be very traditional, one man has found success by thinking outside the box.

Former Rotherham, Pontypridd, Cross Keys and Swansea forward Richard Emms has carved out a successful career in the agent world, operating differently to his rivals.

When his rivals look one way, Emms looks the other. He specialises in finding diamonds in the rough, scouring the world for talent from his home in Pontyclun, South Wales.

His results have been impressive. Emms spotted Theo McFarland in Samoa, playing in an unheard-of competition called Global Rapid Rugby. McFarland is now not only a Saracens regular, but captain of his country.

Bristol centre Kalaveti Ravouvou was working in a prison in Fiji and playing sevens in his homeland. Ravouvou grew up as a real-life cowboy in the Pacific Islands. This season, he has excelled in the Gallagher Premiership with the Bears, scoring 10 tries after he joined Emms’ operation.

In the Six Nations earlier this year, Ellis Mee impressed on his Wales debut. A year ago, he was playing university rugby in Nottingham until Emms intervened.

‘I like players with a point of difference. I don’t want to give my trade secrets away, but there are certain things I look for in a player,’ Emms, the owner of The Sports Management Company, told Rugby Confidential. ‘I like to manage the players myself.

‘I’m quite fussy about the players I’ll take on. I won’t just take anybody. I look for qualities in terms of rugby ability, but also characteristics off the field. I like my players to have a good work ethic.

‘I always try to be a bit different. That’s not necessarily for the sake of being different, but any agent can turn up and watch an academy game because the players there have already been identified. Then you have to go head-to-head with other agents.

‘I back myself to find the players I think can become stars. That excites me more than any financial return. It’s finding the diamonds in the rough, like Kalaveti, because when they do kick on and start to make an impression, it gives you a lot of pleasure.’

Emms manages in the region of  70 players across the globe. He does a lot of travelling, but also watches most of his rugby for scouting purposes from his ‘man cave’ at home. He clearly has a talent for spotting something others cannot.

Current Wales co-captain Dewi Lake is another on Emms’ books and so too is Peniasi Dakuwaqa. In February 2024, Dakuwaqa went viral for the outrageous 100-metre try he scored for Stade Francais against Racing 92 in the Top14. It was more positive coverage for Emms.

‘He’s so different to any other player I manage or have ever come across. I spotted him playing in the Cook Islands,’ he said of the electric Fijian wing. ‘He was very hard to track down! But from the minute I first saw him, I knew I’d never seen anything like him on a rugby field. He’s just so exciting. His X Factor is as good as anything I’ve ever seen.’

It is no surprise that Emms’ work has garnered attention in the rugby world. When Mee first appeared for Wales, much of the credit for his emergence went to his domestic employers the Scarlets. But they wouldn’t even have known about Mee were it not for Emms. He believes more clubs can look to do things differently in the transfer market.

‘I think there is still a degree of unwillingness at some teams to look outside the box when it comes to recruitment. The preferred option is still to go for the tried and tested,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t bother me what country a player is from. I have no pre-conceptions.

‘If I see it, I see it. I like to think there’s a different way of doing things and there’s something better out there. Lots of clubs have tight budgets now and I understand that, but if you can find a hidden gem who goes on to become a big player, that can be priceless.'

Emms stumbled into agent life. He finished his career with Cross Keys at a time when a young Taulupe Faletau was coming through at the Welsh club and inadvertently took his first steps into representation when a couple of players asked him for help.

Emms is fully trained as a financial adviser, so helps his clients on that front too. He represents many Pacific Islanders who often send money back home to their families while working in Europe. Emms isn’t resting on his laurels. Far from it, in fact.

He has a number of potential ‘game-changers’ joining Premiership clubs next season, including powerful Fijian prop Bill Drodrolagi Nairau, who has signed for Saracens.

Mark McCall’s side will also soon confirm the signing of a young Samoan lock who Emms found. Sweden international tighthead Ale Loman has already played for Leicester and is on the books at Championship side Nottingham after being spotted by Emms.

Bristol earlier this month confirmed the signing of another Emms client in lock Will Ramply, who impressed on trial at the Bears from Nottingham University and scored a try against Queensland Reds. More Fiji internationals in Albert Tuisue, who is joining Provence, Simione Kuruvoli, Siva Naulago and Exeter centre Will Rigg are also on Emms’ client list.

Many clubs could do far worse than to give Emms a call to find out who his next discovery is going to be, especially given the success the likes of Ravouvou have been.

No honeymoon for Itoje 

Lions captain Maro Itoje warmed up for this summer’s crunch tour of Australia by marrying his model partner Mimi Fall in a glittering London wedding ceremony at the weekend.

Despite the season being far from finished, Itoje took brief time out for his nuptials, the couple posing on a Rolls Royce for the official wedding pictures.

But there will be no immediate honeymoon for the 30-year-old and his new wife, with Itoje straight back on duty with Saracens against Bath this weekend in the final round of the Premiership’s regular season.

‘He’s straight back in,’ Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said. ‘That was the first of about four celebrations I think!’

Dupont's date with the greats 

French rugby great Antoine Dupont and the country’s football icon Zinedine Zidane continued their friendship by socialising at last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Dupont is currently recovering from a long-term knee injury. He has become close with former Real Madrid midfielder Zidane as both have brand deals with adidas.

Zidane was in Monaco in his role as a brand ambassador for Formula One team Alpine. Dupont, meanwhile, was invited by one of his sponsors Louis Vuitton and congratulated British driver Lando Norris on his win on social media.

Major League Rugby needs major investment 

Matt Giteau has encouraged American rugby bosses to increase its domestic league’s salary cap as efforts to grow the game in the country continue.

Australian great Giteau ended his glittering career in the USA with LA Giltinis and San Diego Legion, so has first-hand experience of what the game has to offer there.

He believes America’s Major League Rugby needs to offer greater financial incentives to attract not only the best players from around the world, but also the best young USA talent who might be lost to the bigger riches on offer in baseball, basketball and NFL.

MLR’s salary cap process is complicated, but each team operates off an annual budget of around £750,000. USA Rugby has expressed interest in acquiring top players like Antoine Dupont for MLR, but its budgets aren’t enough to pay the going rate.

‘With the salary cap, it’s very restrictive,’ Giteau said. ‘For the competition to get better and grow and to help American players develop, the salary cap has got to lift a little bit.

‘With the population the USA has and their number of athletes, their potential is scary. With the support of World Rugby, I think the 2031 World Cup there will be phenomenal.’

Wales look inwards for growth 

The Welsh Rugby Union is set to look internally for its new chief growth officer after a long and frustrating recruitment search for the key position.

At a time when the game in Wales is struggling badly on and off the field, the WRU wanted to foster a high-profile environment to raise commercial revenues.

On Thursday, Welsh rugby's governing body confirmed chief finance officer Leighton Davies had been appointed new chief commercial officer, the role previously described as chief growth officer.

Ealing snap up Bears trio 

Championship side Ealing are set to sign Bristol trio Josh Caulfield, Deago Bailey and Sam Edwards after their departures were officially confirmed by the Bears.