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Confirmed: Taufua joins Lyon after Leicester agree to early release
By Online Editors
The messy spat that unfolded this past week between Leicester and back row Jordan Taufua has finally been settled after Tigers reached an agreement to release the New Zealander early from his contract so that he can join Lyon in the Top 14.
It was last Wednesday when Lyon announced the arrival of the former Crusaders forward, Taufua joining up initially a medical joker until the end of this season before a two-year contract would then kick into gear taking him through to 2023.
However, with Tuafua in France going through his quarantine protocols, Borthwick claimed following last Friday night's loss to Sale that the deal taking their player to Lyon hadn't been signed off by the club, generating speculation that something untoward was going on.
Whatever issues that were causing the angst have since been ironed out, though, with Borthwick now believing Leicester have the strength in depth to cope with the sudden loss of Taufua. Borthwick told the Leicester club website: “Jordan is a talented, experienced player and we are grateful to him for what he has given to Leicester Tigers during almost 18 months at the club.
“Supporters and people outside of the environment see a very small part of what goes on each week and Jordan has brought energy, enthusiasm and experience to our club at a crucial time while we re-shape our squad, which we will be better off for having had at Tigers. We all wish Jordan well in his next chapter as a player.
“The past year has been a well-documented, unique time in the game in many ways and, like almost every club, we have faced unprecedented challenges in managing our squad. An opportunity came up for Jordan to take up a new challenge in his career and, after positive dialogue with him, we came to an agreement that we feel works for both parties. We would not have made this decision had we not believed we had the depth in our group to continue to see competition for places in the back row, which we have seen a strong improvement in recently at the club.”
Taufua added: “It isn’t how I wanted to finish up my time at Tigers, especially without a chance to say goodbye to the fans at Welford Road, but I am very grateful for all that I have experienced in my time in Leicester. It has been a challenging time but I have learned a lot.
"I will always cherish my time and the experiences I had as a Leicester Tigers player and the friendships I made at the club. I appreciate the professional way this has been handled and am looking forward to what is ahead for me. I wish Leicester all the best going forward and will cheer them on from afar.”
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Latest Comments
Steve Borthwick appointment was misguided based on two flawed premises.
1. An overblown sense of the quality of the premiership rugby. The gap between the Premiership and Test rugby is enormous
2. England needed an English coach who understood English Rugby and it's traditional strengths.
SB won the premiership and was an England forward and did a great job with the Japanese forwards but neither of those qualify you as a tier 1 test manager.
Maybe Felix Jones and Aled Walter's departures are down to the fact that SB is a details man, which work at club level but at test level you need the manager to manage and let the coaches get on and do what they are employed for.
SB criticism of players is straight out of Eddie Jones playbook but his loyalty to keeping out of form players borne out of his perceived sense of betrayal as a player.
In all it doesn't stack up as the qualities needed to be a modern Test coach /Manager
Go to commentsBut still Australians. Only Australia can help itself seems to be the key message.
Blaming Kiwis is deflecting from the actual problem.
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