Tongan international skipper Nili Latu will join Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club the Newcastle Falcons this summer ahead of the 2015/16 Aviva Premiership season, a statement from the club has said. However, no details regarding the terms of the deal have been mentioned.
The Tonga international will be linking up with the giants from the North East having played his entire career with clubs in the southern hemisphere, most importantly the Chiefs and the Hurricanes in the Super 15s. The back row player has also played 42 matches for his national team, scoring four tries as well.
Having suffered a less than successful season by their standards, the Kingston Park side had long been looking for players that could be game changers to add to their squad and had scoured the entire globe to narrow down on their options and the signing of Latu is expected to be the first of many such signings.
Dean Richards, the Director of Rugby at the Newcastle Falcons hailed the club’s capture of one of the most explosive back rowers in the game right now and added that is absolutely thrilled to have a player of his talent and experience in the Falcons squad.
He added that the player has a lot of experience playing in some of the biggest teams in the world and in difficult domestic competitions and he still remains a world class player with a lot of rugby still in him. Moreover, according to Richards, the fact that he has been the skipper of the national team means he will bring a wealth of leadership experience to the squad and the young players in the Newcastle Falcons squad can feed off his experience and become leaders in their own rights.
Latu will join the club after the Rugby World Cup.
