London Irish sign Hurricanes flyhalf Marshall

Hurricanes fly-half James Marshall has agreed a move to English Premiership Rugby club London Irish after the 2016 Super Rugby season.

Marshall has signed with the Premiership club for the 2016/17 Northern Hemisphere season and will join the English club once his commitments to the Hurricanes are complete.

Twenty-seven-year-old former New Zealand 7s player Marshall played a big role in the Hurricanes reaching the Super Rugby Final in 2015.

Marshall, who will be entering his fourth season with the Hurricanes and has 30 appearances to his name, started his ITM career back in 2008 with Tasman. James had a brief spell with Italian side, Aironi before returning to New Zealand to join Taranaki. His time at Taranaki has been successful as he captained the side to their maiden ITM Cup Championship in 2014.

Commenting on signing for the Club, James said,”I’m looking forward to joining up with London Irish next year. The plans in place at the Club are very exciting and it is an environment I am looking forward to being a part of. I know Tom Coventry and Clark Laidlaw well from coaching in New Zealand and I’m impressed by the ambition and vision for where they see the Club going. I look forward to joining the club next summer.”

London Irish Head of Rugby Operations, Glenn Delaney, said,”James signing is a huge statement of where we want to take this team next season. He is comfortable at both fly half and full back and possesses great game management skills. He has been an important member of the Hurricanes squad over the last few years and the experience he has gained from being in their environment will be invaluable to us at London Irish.”