21 hours ago
Gloucester sign All Blacks prop Laulala
Gloucester have signed New Zealand prop Nepo Laulala for the 2025-26 Premiership 33-year-old has been rehabilitating from a ruptured Achilles tendon at Kingsholm after being released by French side Toulouse last has won 53 caps for the All Blacks and featured at the last two World Cups - playing in New Zealand's loss to South Africa in the 2023 final."Nepo is a 50-odd cap All Black, and that pretty much speaks for itself in terms of the calibre of player we've signed," Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington told the club website."We moved quickly to get him here in the building and start his rehab, which gave us a jump on the other sides and most importantly, Nepo has been really grateful for how we've supported him with his injury."He's looking really good, he's coming through all the tests that we've been putting him through, and we're confident he can have a big impact for us this season."
Laulala came up through the ranks at Canterbury and made his Super Rugby debut for the Crusaders before stints with the Chiefs and the the 2023 World Cup, he moved to Toulouse, but his time in the Top 14 was cut short due to his injury. He has spent the last three months at Gloucester regaining fitness."I'm really grateful to George and everybody at Gloucester for welcoming me to Kingsholm after going through a pretty rough time in France," Laulala said."It was a scary time not knowing where my future lay, but I'm looking forward to repaying everybody here for the faith they've put in me."I've heard great things about Gloucester and the Cherry and White fans, and I can't wait to get out there and play in front of them."
