Roberts to leave Blues
Wales and Lions centre Jamie Roberts will leave the Cardiff Blues in the summer. He's the latest in a series of big-name stars to quit regional rugby.
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Jamie Roberts joins exodus of top players from Wales
The centre will leave Cardiff Blues next summer. The club's chairman says it's now 'impossible' for the regions to compete financially.
Read the full storyJamie Roberts will leave Cardiff Blues in summer
Cardiff Blues have confirmed that their Wales and Lions centre Jamie Roberts will leave the region at the end of the season.
He rejected a contract offer which the Blues say would arguably have seen him become the highest paid player in the UK.It's thought he will join French side Racing Metro.
Roberts, who turns 26 today, came through the Blues academy and has made 81 appearances for the region to date. He's a medical student at Cardiff University and will sit his final exams during the 2012 Six Nations.
Roberts is the latest in a string of Wales internationals to leave regional rugby for the continent. Cardiff Blues Chairman Peter Thomas says: "It is impossible for the Welsh regions to compete with the kind of money that is on offer from other clubs in other countries."