By Tom Coleman

Copyright walesonline

Here’s your round-up of all the latest rugby news for Thursday, September 18. Liam Williams is close be being announced as a Newcastle Red Bulls player. As exclusively revealed by WalesOnline , the ambitious English side are keen on bringing the Wales full-back to the north east, and it’s now reported he is on the verge of completing a move this week. According to RugbyPass , Williams is undergoing a medical on Tyneside, having previously been without a club following a short stint at Saracens last term. Williams would remain eligible for Wales if he joined Newcastle, whose takeover by Red Bull has seen them become one of the richest rugby clubs in the world, although it remains to be seen whether new head coach Steve Tandy will potentially go in a different direction. The 34-year-old has recently spoken about his struggles over the summer after being rejected by all four Welsh regions as he desperately looked for a new team to continue his career. The British and Irish Lion currently has 93 Wales caps and is keen to get to 100. Louis Rees-Zammit will make his first start for Bristol Bears in Friday night’s PREM Rugby Cup clash with former club Gloucester at Kingsholm Park. The 24-year-old made his bow for the Bears during Saturday’s defeat to Sale Sharks, coming off the bench to get around half an hour under his belt. After choosing to call time on his American football escapades, he was handed something of a “welcome back to rugby” moment on his return to action. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White stormed down the left flank, before producing an emphatic bump-off on Rees-Zammit, sending him flying. Nevertheless, coach Pat Lam is set to throw him in from the off on Friday night, with the former Jacksonville Jaguars hopeful lining up in a back three containing debutant Tom Jordan and Wales U20 wing Aidan Boshoff. Bristol Bears team to face Gloucester: 15. Tom Jordan, 14. Louis Rees-Zammit, 13. Joe Jenkins, 12. Toby Baker, 11. Aidan Boshoff , 10. AJ MacGinty, 9. Harry Randall (c); 1. Sam Grahamslaw, 2. Gabriel Oghre, 3. Lovejoy Chawatama, 4. Paddy Pearce, 5. Joe Owen, 6. Luka Ivanishvili, 7. Kofi Cripps, 8. Ben Grondona. Reps: 16. Tomas Gwilliam, 17. Louie Trevett, 18. Jimmy Halliwell, 19. Kenzie Jenkins, 20. Fitz Harding, 21. Max Pepper, 22. Sam Worsley, 23. Evan Morris. Several players at Worcester Warriors are reportedly still waiting to be paid – some three years after the club went into administration. The BBC claims the RFU have indicated that Warriors have already paid a substantial amount to creditors, and an independent adjudication process was taking place to review some claims of the claims. It’s claimed around 20 players, as well as the club’s former director of rugby Steve Diamond and other members of staff are all owed money from the club, who are due to return to Sixways Stadium for a pre-season friendly with Bath on Friday. The club went into administration in 2022 after being confronted with an unpaid tax debt of around £6m. That resulted in the termination of contracts for both players and members of staff. In April, however, the club announced it would be making its professional return for the 2025-26, following a 2024 takeover. Rhys Thomas has says a speech from Wales football head coach Craig Bellamy helped get players and coaching staff ‘excited’ at the prospect of halting their losing run against Japan in the summer. Thomas, who’s now forwards transition coach at Gloucester was part of interim boss Matt Sherratt’s backroom staff when Wales ended an 18-match losing Test run against the hosts in Kobe. “It was amazing to have that chance to coach your country,” he told the BBC . “The first time was out of the blue but then to go to Japan and have that second chance to go to a brand new country you’ve never experienced before culturally. “To work with a lot of the boys again and the staff, it was a very good experience, and took a lot out of it as well. It was a really good learning opportunity for me. “The main thing was for the staff and the lads. A lot of people there have had a lot more hard times and losses than what we did and it was just the relief it gave them. “Craig Bellamy came in the week before we left and just talked about excited he would be, having an opportunity to be with the squad and the staff that turned that run around. “The spin he put on it, we probably got a bit excited then, really, and it was about making history in a different sort of way and that’s what we did.”