Newcastle sign a pair of Worcester forwards on two-year deals

Newcastle Falcons have bolstered their tight-five stocks with the signing of Worcester Warriors pair Richard Palframan and George Merrick, both on two-year deals. Prop Palframan, 27, made 43 appearances during his two seasons at Worcester, the South-African-born tighthead initially emerging at Natal Sharks U19s before joining London Irish and London Scottish.

Merrick, 28, the 6ft 7in lock played more than 50 times for Harlequins before leaving for French giants Clermont in 2019, going on to spend the current season with Worcester.

Newcastle boss Dean Richards said: “Richard and George will both add strength and physicality to our tight-five from next season and I look forward to their arrival. They know what the Premiership is about and it just adds to that healthy competition for places which is so important in any squad environment.”

Palframan said: “From speaking to Dean I know that Newcastle have big ambitions to keep the club moving in a positive direction and I’m looking forward to getting started. I have been to Kingston Park a few times with other clubs, although I, unfortunately, couldn’t be involved last weekend due to a broken thumb, which is on the mend now and feeling good.

“I’m already used to synthetic pitches with having played a few years at Worcester and I’m just looking forward to being part of things at the Falcons when I arrive next month.”

Lock Merrick added: “I’m excited about the move. Newcastle has always been a tough place to come and play as an opposition side and it will be nice to be on the home end of that. It’s a decent set-up there. They are going well at the moment and I’m going to try and get in early if I can ahead of the official start of pre-season in the middle of July.

“Any team playing against Newcastle knows they are in for a physical battle and I just want to get stuck in with the rest of the boys on that side of things. It’s a really competitive squad with a lot of good players, but I want to really add to the group and help the club to push on.”