London Irish sign Vladimir Podrezov
London Irish have completed the signing of Vladimir Podrezov. The Russian prop, formerly of VVA-Podmoskovye, has been training with the club in recent weeks and has now agreed a short-term contract until the end of the 2020/21 season.
Capped 34 times by his country, the 27 year-old was part of the Russian squad that competed in the 2019 World Cup.
“I am really happy to be here” said Podrezov, who tips the scales at 121kg.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for me and one I am really looking forward to.
“Everyone at the Club has been really welcoming to me and I’m excited about helping the team out between now and the end of the season.”
Director of Rugby, Declan Kidney, added: “Vlad will add to our front-row options for the remainder of the season.
“He’s settled in well and we’re looking forward to working with him.”
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Dead time reductions are important as is ball in play time increases. Premiership leads the way in terms of ball in play and Northern refereeing standards around the breakdown has sped up the game significantly. Super Rugby is trying new things but its not leading the way in terms of making gains in reducing dead time and ball in play time. Northern administrators are also not against speeding up the game, on the contrary they want a faster game and have been trying things and are embracing increasing the speed of rugby. Super Rugby isnt providing a blueprint for anything, its just part the agreed upon blueprint that administrators across the world are moving to.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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