Connacht sign two southern hemisphere players, including a sevens circuit specialist

Irish province Connacht have beefed up their squad ahead of the 2020/21 Guinness PRO14 season with the recruitment of Australian 7s player Ben O’Donnell and Bay of Plenty No8 Abraham Papali’i. Handed a 2017 debut by current Connacht coach Andy Friend, O’Donnell scored 47 tries in his 95 matches at sevens level, becoming the first Australian ever nominated for the world sevens player of the year award.

Kiwi Papali’i, meanwhile, was a Mitre 10 Cup winner last season after he returned to union following a spell in rugby league where he featured for Sydney Roosters and Lezignan Sangliers in France after initially linking up with the New Zealand Warriors following a union stint at North Harbour. 

Speaking to the Connacht club website ahead of the planned late August resumption of the 2019/20 PRO14 season, Friend said: “I got to know Ben very well on the Australian sevens scene. It didn’t surprise me that he went on to become such an important player for them and I’m thrilled that he has chosen to join Connacht.

Wasps and New Zealand’s Lima Sopoaga guests on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series

Video Player is loading.

Play Video

PauseSkip BackwardSkip Forward

Unmute

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration 0:00

Loaded: 0%

0:00

Stream Type LIVE

Seek to live, currently behind liveLIVE

Remaining Time -0:00

 

1x

Playback Rate

Chapters

• Chapters

Descriptions

• descriptions off, selected

Captions

• captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
• captions off, selected

Audio Track

Fullscreen

This is a modal window.

Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

Text

ColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityOpaqueSemi-Transparent

Text Background

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparent

Caption Area Background

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaque

Font Size

50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%

Text Edge Style

NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop shadow

Font Family

Proportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall Caps

ResetDone

Close Modal Dialog

End of dialog window.

Close Modal Dialog

This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

Wasps and New Zealand’s Lima Sopoaga guests on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series

“Abraham is a powerful No8 who has all the attributes to become a really valuable player for us while furthering our options in the back row. I know every Connacht supporter will be excited to see what he can offer.

“Today’s announcement comes on the back of discussions that started a number of months ago. These signings bring our squad up to 43 players for next season. 

Connacht Rugby are delighted to announce the signings of Australian 7s player Ben O'Donnell & Bay of Plenty Number 8 Abraham Papali'i.

The pair will both link up with the squad ahead of the 2020/21 #GuinnessPRO14 season.

Happy Wednesday! ?

Full story: https://t.co/AdGZqEkMFB pic.twitter.com/P0F8qNGImQ

— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) July 8, 2020

“We have freshened up and added depth to our squad in a number of key areas, having signed a healthy blend of young exciting players who have come through our academy system as well as bringing in some additional quality and experience from further afield.

“We are an ambitious group and I firmly believe we have all the tools we need to kick on to the next level and achieve success in what is going to be a really exciting season.”