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Samoan international whore Richie Asiata has signed for Leicester Tigers with immediate effect, to fill the void left by the retirement of Finn Theobold-Thomas at the age of 23.
Asiata, 30, has significant playing experience in Super Rugby, with Queensland Red as well as representation Northland and Tasman in NPC.
Ex Australia And the U20 international, who was born in New Zealand, played twice Samoa in the Nations Cup in July and is back in the squad for the November Test.
He made his debut from the bench against Georgia before earning his first Test start against Romania.
“Richie brings a wealth of experience with over 50 games of Super Rugby to the position of need,” said Tigers head coach Geoff Parling, who is currently without first-team huckster Charlie Clare through injury.
“He is hungry for a chance to prove himself in PREM and we welcome him, Leilani and Lior to the Tigers.”
With the Tongan duo of fellow hooker Sam Molly and center Solomon Kata already signed up, there is now a small but growing enclave of Pacific Island players in the Mattioli Woods Welford Road dressing room.
“I’m excited to sign for the Tigers. It’s a new opportunity for me on this side of the world. I’ve played in Australia for a while so it’s pretty exciting to try something new,” Asiata said.
“I spoke to James O’Connor, Ben Volavola and Isaiah Perese, they told me about the history of Leicester. The fans are unreal, it’s pretty crazy at home games.”
“I’m really happy to be involved, I can’t wait to get to know the lads, the fans and the culture.”
