Cardiff Rugby have announced that Tom Bowen has signed a new long-term deal, fending off interest from French Top 14 giants La Rochelle.

The 19-year-old has made 10 appearances for the Blue and Blacks this season and scored seven tries, including a United Rugby Championship (URC) hat-trick against Munster in Limerick.

It had been reported that Bowen’s game-breaking exploits had caught the eye of French Top 14 side La Rochelle but the rapid wing has agreed fresh terms at the Arms Park.

“As an environment, I imagine Cardiff is very hard to beat,” said Bowen, whose deal is described by the club as “long-term”.

“I have high-quality players all around me, people I can keep learning from and compete with, which will only continue my development.”

Bowen’s early form put him in contention for a senior call-up for Steve Tandy’s first squad in the autumn, while he started all five games of Wales’ Under 20s Six Nations campaign and is still young enough to feature at the Junior World Cup in Georgia this summer.

“He is a young, exciting player who is a big part of our future,” said Cardiff coach Corniel van Zyl.

“His point of difference is obviously his finishing – he has the ability to finish opportunities that not many other players could.

“He is also a great person, who is eager to learn and improve. The key thing for Tom now, is continuing to develop his all-round game as a wing on the back of some impressive games for us and a really good Six Nations.”

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