´óÏó´«Ã½

Head coach John Mulvihill believes Gareth Anscombe will stay at Cardiff Blues after Bristol ruled out signing the Wales fly-half.

Anscombe, 27, is out of contract this summer and has been linked with Ospreys as well as English clubs Harlequins, Bath and Bristol.

He would be ineligible for his country if he left to play club rugby in England because he has not won 60 caps.

"He wants to play Test rugby. He doesn't want to leave," said Mulvihill.

"You're never confident until you see a signature on a piece of paper but I think we'll be very close. I don't think he's leaving Wales.

"To be fair to him, I feel a bit sorry for Gareth. His name's been touted about all over the place and that's not from him.

"He's one of the leaders in our group, and I can't see that changing anytime soon."

Anscombe, who was Wales' first-choice fly-half during the 2019 Six Nations Grand Slam, has been linked with Bath, Harlequins and Bristol.

But Bristol head coach Pat Lam appeared to dispel that idea by saying: "I wouldn't be surprised to see Gareth Anscombe stay exactly where he is in Wales.

"I got three 10s next year why would I pay that amount of money for someone else? I think we've been linked to [AJ] MacGinty, [Rhys] Priestland, [Danny] Cipriani - what I'll say is it's a great ploy by agents or others."

Anscombe, who has been on a dual contract since joining the Blues from the Waikato Chiefs in 2014, is currently appealing against the new player pay-banding system in Wales, wanting to be placed in a higher band.

The new pay system has been introduced by the Professional Rugby Board to replace dual contract deals between the Welsh Rugby Union and the regions.

Ospreys are also monitoring Anscombe's future, but Mulvihill believes the 27-year-old will commit to the Blues if he stays in Wales.

"Yeah, for sure, this is his first club in Wales, all his mates play here, he lives in Cardiff, he's happy here and his wife's happy here in work," Muvihill added.

"It's up to him to make those final decisions but when we come down to those decisions it's going to be based around the programme, and we're currently the best team in Wales and performing the best this season.

"I don't think he'd want to move away from that and he's been a big part of our success. I'd say he'd want to stay."

Another who wants Anscombe to stay in Wales is Wayne Pivac, who is hoping he will be able to pick the fly-half when he takes over from Warren Gatland as Wales coach after the World Cup.

Pivac, the current Scarlets coach, worked with New Zealand-born Anscombe during their time at Auckland.

"From my point of view, I have coached Gareth before and he is an excellent player and I would like to see him remain so we have his services going forward," said Pivac.

"I have had a working relationship with Gareth in the past. He is a very good player and we have seen that in recent times.

"It is only something the individual can answer; it's the price you put on the jersey I guess.

"Most of the players in Wales fit into those player bandings quite nicely.

"We are not hearing too many disgruntled players.

"With any new system coming in, there is going to be some abnormality and those are the ones we need to work through."

For the latest Welsh rugby news follow on Twitter.