Highlander Faddes becomes the latest big signing at Ulster
Ulster have announced that experienced Super Rugby player Matt Faddes will move to Kingspan Stadium next season.
Faddes has represented his home province Otago since 2011 and is currently playing for the Highlanders franchise, with whom he has scored 19 tries in 43 Super Rugby appearances. That includes 10 tries in the 2016 Super Rugby campaign, in which he finished as the competition’s joint second top try scorer.
The 27-year-old can play across the backline and also has international experience, having represented New Zealand at 7s level. He is no stranger to Belfast, as he scored for the Barbarians against Fiji at Kingspan Stadium in November 2016.
Faddes said he was excited by the switch to Ulster: "Both Georgie and I are looking forward to the experience of living and working in a new environment and the challenge that will provide.
"It’s exciting to consider the next chapter of my rugby career. When I visited in 2016, I was struck by the family, community feel to the club."
Commenting on Faddes’ arrival, Ulster boss Dan McFarland said: "Matt is a quality player who will bring a lot of experience, skill and creativity to our backline. He’s quick and has shown throughout his career the ability to beat defenders with his footwork and acceleration.
"His versatility will also be very important for us, meaning he is able to play various positions alongside our talented young backs. Matt is excited about moving over to Ireland and with his undoubted ability and strong worth ethic, I’m sure he’ll add a significant amount to our squad."
This signing follows the recent announcements that British & Irish Lions prop Jack McGrath, Australia second row Sam Carter and Irish-qualified prop Gareth Milasinovich will move to Ulster next season.
"Jonny (Petrie), Bryn (Cunningham) and I feel that this year’s recruitment process has been very productive and it’s encouraging that we are able to continue to attract players of this calibre to Ulster," added McFarland.
"The new arrivals will bolster our squad depth for next season and increase competition for places in key areas. This, coupled with the experience gained by so many of our young players this season, bodes well for us moving forward."
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Brett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
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