Alex Groves has spoken about the special connection he has developed with a group of Scarlets supporters who have grouped together to become his player sponsor for the season.
The 6ft 9in South African second row will make his first start since his arrival in west Wales in Saturday’s BKT United Rugby Championship round two clash with the Dragons in Newport.
Having made a couple of appearances as emergency loan cover last October, the 25-year-old signed on a full-time contract from the DHL Stormers in the summer.
And speaking to the media ahead of tomorrow’s game, he highlighted the warm welcome he has received from fans since swapping Cape Town for Llanelli.
“There’s a special relationship with the fans here,” he said. “I mean, if we just go back to this past weekend it was my first home game for the Scarlets. Hearing how loud that stadium is and even though we didn’t give the fans the result they wanted, they still stuck around afterwards to speak to us.
“The players going and doing a ‘thank you’ to the fans around the stadium. I’ve personally never been a part of a club that does that.”
Each player at the Scarlets has their own commercial player sponsor for the season, normally local businesses and individual fans – Groves is sponsored by a group of 20 supporters known as the ‘Sosban Pirates’.
“The name comes from my home club, the Pirates, in Johannesburg,” explained Groves. “After I played for the Scarlets against the Lions last season, one of the Scarlets fans who had travelled out to South Africa named Ant came up to me and congratulated me on the game and said he thought I played well and all that sort of stuff.
“After the match I phoned my parents and they had met Ant, his daughter Cath and the other fans out there and invited them back to the Pirates club and gave them a bit of a tour.
“Everyone had a few drinks and in the end my parents were singing Welsh songs with the Scarlets fans. It was great to learn a bit about the culture and meeting such amazing people.
“Cath made a promise to my mum that if I ever went over to Scarlets that she’d look after me so when I signed I got back in touch with her to help me with a few things and she was amazing. Then I got the word that they were going to sponsor me.
“So after the game last week, I didn’t have any family or anybody that I really knew so I felt naturally drawn to my sponsors, to other fans and to people that I was more familiar with, and they sort of felt like my family away from family. I went up into the Quinnell Lounge after the game and sat with Ant and Cath, and met a few of the other fans. It was quite special.”
Looking forward to his first full season with the Scarlets, Groves, who has also played at Bristol and Sale Sharks, added: “I have really enjoyed it so far, it’s been a smooth transition coming over from the Stormers. I loved the spell I had on loan last season and what stood out for me was how well connected the group are, they are a great bunch of boys, and that played a big part in my decision to come over.
“I am coming off the back of shoulder surgery so I was happy to come through last week’s game and am excited for another opportunity in another Welsh derby against the Dragons.”
If you’d like to become a player sponsor contact the Scarlets commercial team on [email protected]