Folau signs for Red Hurricanes in Japan

Japanese Top League club NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes have confirmed that they
have signed Wallaby fullback Israel Folau and Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth.

The announcement comes while the Japanese Super Rugby franchise appears to
be struggling to sign players for next year’s tournament.

Folau signed a three year contract extension earlier this week and his contract
allows him to play in Japan in the off-season.

Osaka-based NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes announced last week that they had signed
South African flyhalf Handre Pollard.

Japanese Top League teams have signed a raft of players for next season and
have even signed up a Super Rugby coach and the numbers moving to Asia are a
concern.

While the mass signings of Super Rugby players and coaches continues SANZAR
have said that they are concerned about the Japanese Super Rugby side’s progress
in signing players.

“Without a doubt it’s a serious issue which we need to monitor very closely,”
SANZAR chief executive Greg Peters told The Australian.

“It’s a steep learning curve for the management of the new entity to understand
how the contracting process works.”

“They have their own particular local nuances. They are working through
those issues. They have a different contracting model that we don’t have here.”