London Irish confirm Scotland international for 2019/20

London Irish are currently nine points clear at the top of the Greene King IPA Championship, leading local rivals Ealing Trailfinders.

The Exiles recently bolstered their squad this season with the additions of Fijian pair Alivereti Veitokani and Albert Tuisue, both of whom made their debuts for the club in the win over Richmond at the weekend.

With the playoffs at the culmination of the Championship season now scrapped, teams that take a significant lead at the top of the table are able to recruit for a potential season in the Gallagher Premiership with more confidence, and that is just what Irish have done.

The club have announced the arrival of Scotland loosehead Allan Dell for the 2019/20 season, with the 26-year-old set to leave Edinburgh at the end of the current campaign.

Dell, who was born in Eastern Cape, is a former World Rugby U20 Championship winner with South Africa from 2012, but has since gone on to win 17 caps for Scotland, as well as being one of the mid-tour call ups for the British and Irish Lions series against New Zealand back in 2017.

Commenting on the signing, London Irish Director of Rugby Declan Kidney had the following to say.

“We have a strong set of forwards at Hazelwood, but we know that we need to bring in players in key areas to strengthen the group. Allan is a player who has experience at the highest level with Edinburgh, Scotland and the Lions, and this will add value to our squad.”

With the club looking set to immediately return to the Premiership, Dell is unlikely to be Kidney's last addition.

Former Ulster fly-half Paddy Jackson has widely been linked with a move to Irish, with the Ireland international looking set to leave Perpignan in the summer, who are likely to be relegated to the Pro D2.

RugbyPass also reported that Steve Mafi is set to sign a bumper £500,000 deal with Irish and make his return to English rugby after a five-year absence following his departure from Leicester Tigers.

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