Charles Piutau
All Blacks international Charles Piutau signed a 1-season contract with English Premiership club Wasps on Thursday after the being left out of his country’s squad for the Rugby World Cup.
Piutau will join Celtic League side Ulster next July, but they aren’t able to include him in their squad for this current campaign as their foreign allocation is full.
And when the 23-year-old missed out on a place in the All-Blacks’ final 31-man squad for the Rugby World Cup, which gets underway next week, Piutau opted to play for Wasps in 2015 – 2016.
“When the opportunity arose to play for Wasps I was excited. It’s a club with a proud history and one that has recruited very well over the last few seasons,” Piutau said.
“I know Alapati Leiua from New Zealand and am looking forward to playing with him, as well as continuing to play alongside Frank Halai who I have played a lot of rugby with.
“I have also heard great things about playing at the Ricoh Arena and the crowd support there and I look forward to making a contribution to what will hopefully be a very successful season.”
Piutau, who can play at fullback, wing or centre, previously played for the Auckland Blues and has been capped 17 times for the All Blacks after making his international debut against France in June 2013.
Later that year he scored his 1st international points with 2 tries against Japan in Tokyo in November before scoring again against the French in a 26 / 19 win in Paris a week later.
The last of his 5 All Black tries came in July during a 39 / 18 Rugby Championship win over Argentina in Christchurch.
Wasps’ Director of Rugby Dai Young added: “The opportunity arose for us to sign Charles and we jumped at the chance.
“His addition will bolster the strong recruitment we’ve already made for the new season, complementing the talented squad we already have in place.”