England’s New Zealand turned new boy Shontayne Hape will play for London Irish as of next season. The former rugby league man has been a Bath player since swicthing codes in 2008 from the Bradford Bulls.
He has made numerous impressive performances for England since being granted the opportunity to play for reasons on residency grounds, whilst at Bath six tries in over 50 appearances have made him one to watch.
London Irish had been interested for some time and Exiles head coach Toby Booth is delighted to have him join him during the summer.
“He is physically very intimidating, and his ability to off load out of the tackle will trouble any defence. We have a lot of young talent coming through the club, and the experience that Shontayne brings will also help them to develop further.”
Despite a defensive error handing Wales a try in the opening Six Nations match, Hape is likely to retain his place for the crunch clash at Twickenham versus France on Saturday.