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'Tongan Bear' Uhila signs Clermont contract extension
By Peter Thompson
Loni Uhila has signed a one-year contract extension with Top 14 champions Clermont Auvergne.
The prop, nicknamed the Tongan Bear, joined Les Jaunards from Super Rugby giants Hurricanes for the 2017/18 Top 14 season but is currently sidelined with a broken arm.
Clermont announced on Saturday that they have taken up the option of keeping the 28-year-old at the club until June 2019.
The powerful, New Zealand-born Uhila is set to return in March after undergoing surgery.
He made his debut against Montpellier on November 5 but has yet to even play half an hour in total for the Vulcans.
Like cross-code All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams, Uhila has taken part in professional boxing bouts alongside his rugby career.
But unlike Williams, who has won all seven of his bouts, Uhila's record is modest.
Both his fights have been against New Zealander David Letele, known as the "Brown Butterbean", and resulted in a win apiece.
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i think Argentina v France could be a good game too, depending on which Argentina turns up. The most difficult to call is Scotland Australia.
Go to commentsSmith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.
Lastly, his forward replacements are poor and exposed either lack of depth or selection pressure. Cole hemorrhages scrum penalties whenever he comes on, opponents take advantage of the England scrum and close out the game. Is that the best England can offer?
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