Morgan Allen and Dmitri Arhip sign new Ospreys contracts

Ospreys back-row Morgan Allen has signed a new two-year contract with the Welsh region.

Allen, 23, joined from Pontypool and made his debut in an LV= Cup win over Cardiff Blues in January 2011, scoring his first Ospreys try in the same game.

Ospreys have also given Moldova front-row Dmitri Arhip a one-year extension.

"It's very good news for me personally. I couldn't be anywhere better in terms of my development as a player to be honest," Allen said.

"The last year or so has been brilliant for me, it really has."

Allen has made 14 appearances for Ospreys this season, scoring five tries.

Andy Lloyd, Ospreys rugby operations manager, said: "Morgan is a really good athlete who over the last 12 months has started to fulfil the potential we all knew he had.

"He's extremely powerful, it takes a lot of people to stop him, and he is very capable of scoring tries as his record already indicates.

"He gives us something extra in the back-row, his ball carrying and tackling ability will play a huge part in our game moving forward, I've no doubt about that."

Arhip can play anywhere across the front-row and the 24-year-old made his debut for the region off the bench at the Liberty in a Pro12 win over Cardiff Blues at the end of November, with his Heineken Cup bow coming a week later away to European giants Toulouse.

He has made nine appearances to date, scoring his first try in the win over the Dragons in March.

Allen and Arhip follow Dan Biggar, Richard Fussell, Tom Grabham, Tom Isaacs, Duncan Jones, Rhys Webb, Joe Bearman, Lloyd Peers, James King, Andrew Bishop and Aaron Jarvis in signing new contracts recently, while Italy scrum-half Tito Tebaldi has joined from Zebre for next season.