Latest news with #Emms
Wales Online
5 days ago
- Sport
- Wales Online
The Welsh rugby agent uncovering hidden gems around the world including new Wales star
The Welsh rugby agent uncovering hidden gems around the world including new Wales star The former hooker thinks outside the box to find diamonds in the rough across the globe Mee (right) went from the second tier of English rugby to making his Wales debut in less than a year (Image: Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans Agency ) A Welsh rugby agent who has uncovered hidden gems from right across the globe has opened up about his "different" approach to player recruitment Richard Emms - a former hooker for the likes of Pontypridd, Cross Keys and Swansea - moved into representation when his playing career came to an end, and he now represents around 70 players from right around the world. Admitting that he "won't just take anybody", he specialises in thinking outside the box and using non-traditional means to find diamonds in the rough. The talented players he has discovered in recent years include Saracens star Theo McFarland, who he spotted playing in a now-defunct competition in Samoa and is now captain of his country. Emms, who does most of his scouting work from his home in Pontyclun, also discovered Bristol Bears centre Kalaveti Ravouvou while he was playing sevens alongside working in a Fijian prison, as well as Stade Francais' "X-factor" speedster Peniasi Dakuwaqa, who he spotted playing in the Cook Islands. He also has Wales hooker Dewi Lake on his books, while he played a big role in discovering one of Welsh rugby's recent bright sparks in Scarlets wing Ellis Mee. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. The 21-year-old, who moved to Parc y Scarlets last summer, delivered a hugely impressive performance when he made his Wales debut against Ireland during the Six Nations earlier this year, asking many fans to ask where he had come from. Less than a year earlier, he had been playing for Nottingham in the second tier of English rugby and while his discovery was credited to Scarlets legend James 'Cubby' Davies, who is now recruitment and operations officer at the region, it was Emms who flagged Mee to the Welsh side, reports MailOnline. "I like players with a point of difference. I don't want to give my trade secrets away, but there are certain things I look for in a player," he told the publication. "I like to manage the players myself. "I'm quite fussy about the players I'll take on. I won't just take anybody. I look for qualities in terms of rugby ability, but also characteristics off the field. I like my players to have a good work ethic. "I always try to be a bit different," he added. "That's not necessarily for the sake of being different, but any agent can turn up and watch an academy game because the players there have already been identified. Then you have to go head-to-head with other agents. "I back myself to find the players I think can become stars. That excites me more than any financial return. "It's finding the diamonds in the rough, like Kalaveti, because when they do kick on and start to make an impression, it gives you a lot of pleasure." Emms, who is also fully trained as a financial adviser, added that he has plenty more promising talents on his books, with his clients including Fijian prop Bill Drodrolagi Nairau and English lock Will Ramply, who have signed for Saracens and Bristol respectively ahead of next season. While rugby's transfer market remains traditional, he believes that more clubs could think differently to land new talents and gain a competitive edge. "I think there is still a degree of unwillingness at some teams to look outside the box when it comes to recruitment," he said. Article continues below "The preferred option is still to go for the tried and tested,' he said. 'It doesn't bother me what country a player is from. I have no pre-conceptions. "If I see it, I see it. I like to think there's a different way of doing things and there's something better out there. Lots of clubs have tight budgets now and I understand that, but if you can find a hidden gem who goes on to become a big player, that can be priceless."
CBC
12-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Legal loophole leaves Manitoba renters vulnerable to astronomical rent hikes, says new study
Social Sharing Manitoba landlords use cosmetic upgrades to "tack on" astronomical rent hikes above provincial rent controls, and it's all perfectly legal, a new study says. Released Wednesday, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study looks into above-guideline rental increases in Winnipeg's West Broadway neighbourhood by analyzing experiences of tenants who've been pummeled with relentless price increases, some for several consecutive years. "I've lived in West Broadway for five years now, and in that time my rent has gone from roughly $940 to over $1300," said study participant Neil Kraemer in a Wednesday press conference. "In those five years I've dealt with three above-guideline increases. So now, every fall when the lease renewal comes it's a yearly frustration… how much are they asking for now?" said Kraemer. Tenants reported that the building changes, like painted trim and changed light fixtures, were not only unnecessary but were completed instead of essential repairs — and the bill falls to renters. "We're paying for buzzer systems, flower beds, air conditioner boxes — stuff that we didn't order. Meanwhile, the apartment's flooding, and the [piping] should have been paid instead," one renter in the study said. Fourteen tenants participated in the study and collectively experienced 27 above-guideline rent increases between them, which ranged between three and 43 per cent through 2008 and 2024. Researchers analyzed the interviews conducted with participants in 2024. Scholarly research and local media stories were also included in the study. Tenants interviewed for the study lived at properties managed by Thorwin Properties, Globe Property Management, Alliance Asset Management, Sussex Realty, Houston Property, D7 Properties and Onyx Property Management. "It does seem like the story is happening over and over again," said Amanda Emms, researcher and one of the writers of the study said in an interview. "They pay these rent hikes in perpetuity, even after whatever repairs have been paid off, the rates remain," Emms said. Emms says technically, landlords aren't doing anything wrong under current legislation. Rental units are protected by rental increase guidelines set by the province based on the Consumer Price Index, but social housing, newer building apartments that are under 20 years old, and units that rent for more than $1,640 per month are not protected by the rental increase guideline. Yutaka Dirks, a Right to Housing Residential Tenancies Working Group representative, says landlords of newer buildings don't even need to apply for an above-guideline rent increase when they want to raise the rent. For older buildings, landlords must apply for approval for an above-guideline rent increase if the standard guideline won't cover operating and capital costs for the unit that year. "They're not actually a way for landlords to recoup costs," says Dirks. "AGI's [above-guideline rent increases] are a way for profit margins to be increased on the backs of tenants." The study found the Residential Tenancies Branch typically approved landlord above-guideline rental increase applications, with average increase rates over 10 per cent, over the three years analyzed in the study, between 2019 and 2021. That's well above the two per cent average standard guideline the branch set for those years. This year, in 2025, the guideline caps rental increase at 1.7 per cent. Nearly 60,000 units in Manitoba were impacted by above-guideline rent increases during that time. Difficult appeal process Many of the tenants interviewed for the study said they were so overwhelmed by the process that they did not try to fight the rental increase after receiving the notification of an above-guideline rent increase. Most interviewees reported fear for the future of their housing if they tried to fight the rental increase, citing precarious employment and fear of retribution from their landlord. Tenants who wish to fight the increase must go in person to the Residential Tenancies Branch during office hours within two weeks to review their landlord's application and submit comments, unmanageable for many participants. During the pandemic, tenants in a building overseen by Onyx Property Management at 149 Langside St. received a notice for a 14.3 per cent above-guideline rent increase in spring 2022. Tenants turned to the West Broadway Tenants committee for support and formed a tenant association. One third of the tenants submitted written objections to the RTA, and their rents increased to 13.3 percent in June. West Broadway residents mainly renters A bill proposed last year outlined concrete steps toward limiting above-guideline rent increases through changes to the Residential Tenancy Act, but "the provincial government let Bill 26 die in November," the study says. The bill is now in the hands of Mintu Sandhu, minister of public service delivery, and will need to be reintroduced in March of 2025, the study says, four years after another minister first called for changes to rental legislation. West Broadway houses 5,590 people living in 3,370 dwellings. More than 90 per cent of residents rent their home, with individual incomes on average below $29,000, the study says. Twenty-four per cent of the neighbourhood's population identifies as Indigenous, including Métis, First Nations and Inuit. Ultimately the study highlights the limited rights of tenants, where property owners can make decisions that directly impact the lives of tenants with little to no consequence. "When presented with an above-guideline rent increase, a tenant has two choices: ignore it or fight … the tenants in this study found neither proved to be a sure bet to stop their rents from climbing."
