ROB Howley, Wales' most capped scrum-half this week joined Wasps on a three-year deal and immediately set his sights on winning the Zurich Premiership.

The 31-year-old, who played 59 times for Wales before retiring from international duty at the end of last season, swapped Cardiff Arms Park for Adams Park in a £60,000 transfer and can't wait to get started.

He said: "I'm looking forward to the challenge. It is an opportunity to play in the best league in the northern hemisphere and it will provide me with a new buzz.

"I'm here to win medals, to win the Premiership and to show Wasps Rugby Club the commitment they have shown to me."

His capture from Cardiff Rugby Club ended five weeks of negotiations between the clubs, but there was never any doubt in Howley's mind that he wanted to cross the Severn Bridge once Wasps made their approach.

He spent his entire club career in Wales with Bridgend and Cardiff but a telephone conversation with Wasps coach Warren Gatland was all it took to persuade him to uproot his wife and two young daughters.

He said: "There was talk about other clubs being interested but it was always going to be Wasps for me once they had shown an interest.

"I'm looking forward to the next three years and beyond," said Howley, who is confident he can have at least that long at the top level.

Last season his knee was showing the effects of the non-stop demands of combining club and international rugby but he came through an exhaustive six-hour medical before completing his move.

Wasps owner Chris Wright is delighted with his first capture of the summer.

He said: "You need to have star players on the pitch and you can't get much higher quality than someone of Rob's ability. What he's done on the field for Wales and the British Lions over the years is probably without parallel.

"He's a real superstar with nothing left to prove at international level. Rob is probably the best scrum-half in the northern hemisphere.

"He has extremely fast hands, a great pass and on his day is a real match-winner. We are delighted Rob has chosen to come to London Wasps and I am confident he will help us win some honours during his time here.

"We struggled for a while last season and we don't want to struggle again. We're a team that's won the championship once and the national cup twice in recent years and that's where we want to be.

"It's going to be very, very tough and I think everything is up for grabs. We want to get a good start in the league and then see where we can go from there.

"We've challenged Leicester before and we've got a pedigree that we need to consolidate on and the signing of Rob Howley should help us do that."

Gatland added: "His record speaks for itself and I'm absolutely delighted to get him.

"His experience and leadership will be a boost to the team and I'm sure everyone will look forward to watching a player of his experience perform in the Zurich Premiership."

And Wright added that there could be more new signings on their way to join the Men In Black in Buckinghamshire.

He said: "If we think we can improve the team in other areas and Warren can find the players he wants, we will try and target them. We have a pretty good squad but I'm sure that Warren feels that there are odd areas which we could beef up a little bit."