CROSS Keys have secured the return of former Dragons prop Nathan Buck as they prepare to start their Principality Premiership campaign at champions Merthyr.

The clash means tighthead Buck makes a swift return to the Wern after being a member of the Ironmen’s squad in their title triumph.

The 28-year-old from Gilwern made 66 regional appearances and turned out for the Keys 48 times while with the Dragons.

He returns to Pandy Park after a spell in England with Ealing and a year at Merthyr with head coach Greg Woods excited about the competition for the 3 jersey even without Leon Brown, who is likely to feature prominently for the Dragons this season.

“It gives us great depth at tighthead with Richard Cornock, who can’t play every minute of every game,” said Woods.

“Bucky was really keen to join us and it was quite an easy negotiation – he wanted to come back and enjoy his rugby.

“Him and ‘Beef’ really complement each other and can also help mentor Corey Hewlett on the loosehead.”

Keys have also signed Newport lock Dan Mock, hooker Rob Jones from Treorchy, back row forward Liam Davies and fly-half Corey Sheppard both from Ystrad Rhondda plus centre Barney Nightingale, flanker Josh Skinner and wing Joe Goodchild are all on permanent deals from the Dragons.

However, they also have to cope with the sizeable void left by lock Danny Hodge, who made 204 appearances for the club after arriving from the West Country in 2010 and was a key figure in the 2012 cup-winning team.

“His win ratio for us was unbelievable and Danny is a legend of Cross Keys RFC,” said Woods, who has Skinner, Mock, Tom Lampard and Scott Andrews as second row options.

“He felt it was the right time and with the Premiership ring-fencing period it makes that transition period a little smoother. The game has sped up as well so it’s the right time for both parties.”

Keys face a daunting opener against big-spending Merthyr, who are hot favourites to retain their title, but Woods is excited by the season ahead.

“We’ve got an extremely young back line and I am sure there will be some bumps on the road but it’s fantastically exciting,” he said.

“We’ve got pace all over the park and we need to play more – one of the lessons from last year is that we can win in the mud, we are very good at that, but we have to adapt our game a little more and score more points.

“We are young and we will develop over the coming years but we still want to be very competitive and we have set the challenge of making Pandy Park a tough place to come.”

Keys have also added to their management team with Penallta’s Matthew Tucker joining to help with the lineout.