Tonight's rugby news as Wales international lands top job and Welsh wing suffers devastating blow

Here are your rugby evening headlines for Wednesday, June 5.

Baldwin named new Bridgend Ravens boss

Former Wales international Scott Baldwin has left his role as defence coach at Newcastle Falcons and has been announced as the new head coach of Bridgend Ravens.

Bridgend are readying themselves for their first campaign in the WRU's new Super Rygbi Cymru competition and have enlisted the services of the 37-cap former hooker, who came through the ranks at Bridgend Athletic as a youngster.

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On the appointment, Baldwin, 35, said: “I am really excited to be given the opportunity to become Head Coach at Bridgend Ravens. I have a young family and I’m transitioning to a new career outside of rugby, so when I decided I was going to leave Newcastle, the chance to come back to Bridgend was one I simply couldn’t turn down.

"The club gave me my first opportunity of playing senior rugby and I feel like I have a really deep connection with the club and the fans. Although I am stepping away from the professional game, this is definitely a step forward in my rugby career and I was delighted to be asked by the club to become Head Coach.

"There’s a really exciting core of squad already at Bridgend and the potential of the next generation of players coming through in the borough from our pathway clubs, regional academy, schools and colleges and the like is incredible. It’s a really exciting time for the club and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into the new Super Rygbi Cymru and everything that comes with it.

"In terms of playing style, we’ll be looking to play an exciting brand of rugby but won’t be afraid to be pragmatic in certain areas. We know that it’s going to be an incredibly tough league and there are some very strong teams involved but it’s something we’ll relish.”

Matthew Jones (Backs), Matthew Morgan (Assistant Backs and Skills Coach), Bradley Davies (Forwards), Ben Thomas (Player/Assistant Forwards Coach) and Meredith Griffith (Team Manager) make up Baldwin's coaching staff at Brewery Field.

Welsh wing out for nine months

Scarlets wing Tomi Lewis is out for nine months after rupturing his Achilles on Judgement Day.

Dwayne Peel's side took on the Dragons at Cardiff City Stadium last weekend and came away with the victory, with Lewis himself chipping in with two tries, however it was marred by the sight of the 25-year-old's injury.

Peel had previously suggested that Lewis was an outside shout for Warren Gatland's squad for this summer, but the injury will have put paid to any hopes the player had of earning his first Wales cap for the time being.

Peel said after the match: “I am gutted for Tomi. He was excellent against the Dragons and I said to our analyst on about 45 minutes ‘Tomi is playing himself on the tour here’. But the future is bright for him and he will come back stronger.”

Lewis will undergo surgery to address the Achilles problem this week.

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Cardiff building towards 'something special'

Cardiff Rugby's Liam Belcher believes the future is bright at the Arms Park and that the club are building towards "something special" in the near future.

It is set to be all change at Cardiff next season, with 14 leavers having already been confirmed. However, fly-half Callum Sheedy, props Ed Byrne and Danny Southworth and wings Gabriel Hamer-Webb and Iwan Stephens are new signings which have already been announced ahead of next season.

Meanwhile Mason Grady, Corey Domachowski, Liam Belcher, Keiron Assiratti, Cameron Winnett, Alex Mann, Mackenzie Martin, Evan Lloyd, Harri Millard, James Botham, Jacob Beetham and Alun Lawrence have all signed new deals.

And Belcher, who won the club's player of the season award, believes this new chapter can be an exciting one for Cardiff.

“I think we've got a very bright future ahead. Just the way the morale's been this year, obviously with limited wins, I guess, but we're building foundations of something special.

“We've also got new people coming in as well, which is exciting and they’re just going to add to that.

“Obviously, I want to mention, we will be losing a lot of players who brought a lot into the culture and I think they'll be extremely missed and I wish them all the best in their next steps.”

Fly-half Tinus de Beer, who won the fans' player of the year, echoed Belcher's sentiments, saying: “I know there's something brewing inside of all of us as a team and as a community, and I think next season will be really exciting for all of us. All I want is to get going again and then crack on to the season.

“We had so many nice memories this whole season, and just wish we could have turned those tight games that we lost into wins. We’re looking forward to next season and I'm really excited for it."

England star Ewels: Bath know what's at stake in Prem final

By Andrew Baldock and Duncan Bech, PA

Charlie Ewels says Bath are "embracing the pressure" ahead of their quest for a first Gallagher Premiership title.

Bath and west country rivals Gloucester are the only two current Premiership clubs never to have won it since the competition's inception 27 years ago.

It was a different story in English rugby's pre-Premiership era, with Bath being crowned league champions six times between 1988 and 1996, when only Leicester and Wasps seriously troubled them.

They reached Premiership finals in 2004 and 2015, but lost them both, and Northampton now stand between Bath and landing the English domestic game's biggest prize.

"We are embracing the pressure. We are fully aware of what is at stake here and we will be going into the game knowing we must deliver," Bath and England lock Ewels said.

"It is so important not to take this moment for granted. I took these moments for granted at the start of my career as a 19-year-old when we got into the final back in 2015, but it has been nine years since that moment.

"I recognise that these moments are special and don't come around often, so there will be a lot a belief we can go out there this weekend and become English champions."

Northampton, meanwhile, have been reflecting on the harsh lessons of their defeat at Croke Park to steel their bid to claim the Gallagher Premiership title on Saturday.

Saints were gripped by stage fright as they allowed Leinster to build a 20-3 lead in last month's Champions Cup semi-final in Dublin but, having gained their composure in front of an 82,300 crowd, they fell just short with a final-quarter rally, losing 20-17.

It has become a 'what might have been' moment for the club, had they shown greater conviction from the start, but Tommy Freeman insists the experience will be invaluable when they face Bath at a sold-out Twickenham.

"It got brought up on Monday," the England wing said. "It was on a big stage and we knew how it felt, so it's been about connecting those emotions and not wanting to feel that again.

"Croke Park was a tough arena to go to. The frustrating thing from that game was we could have done it if we had put our game on the park a little bit sooner. If we were more physical from the off, we would have come away with something.

"That gives us confidence going into Saturday - we know that when we get our game right, we are hard to stop. We're always learning - there are games that we've won that we've learned from as well. But the the two big games at Croke Park and against Harlequins at Twickenham will help us a lot."