Rugby Notes

This is the guy who has been responsible for boosting the number of blog hits I have had from Down Under in recent years.

Now New Zealander Marty Veale (see how this works?) has been signed by Wasps until the end of the season.

The 31 year old second row has had a varied and wide-ranging club career, playing in the NPC with Canterbury and North Harbour, two years with Japanese side Kubota, a spell in America with New York Old Blues and most recently a season with Northland in the Air New Zealand Cup.

"I've been to London a couple times before and had seen Wasps play a few games so I had an idea of what the club was about and knew about their past achievements and how highly regarded they are as a club," he said.

"The players here work hard in the gym and it pays off with results on the field. I tend to come from a background where you don't spend as much time in the gym but work more on skills and set phases so coming into this environment is a new challenge - but one that clearly pays off when you see the success the club has had over the last decade. I am looking forward to getting some game time and I hope to help the team get a few results, climb up the ladder a bit and aim for a place in the play-offs where anything can happen from there."

Clearly when rugby skills were being handed out in the Veale world, most of them went Down Under. I had to make do with propping for East London Uni thirds and the Beaufort Arms. And frankly I wasn't even up to those standards.