GLASGOW Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend believes latest signing Tjiuee Uanivi will fit into the high tempo style of play at Scotstoun and could make a real impression in 2016/17.
The 25-year-old second-row joined the Guinness PRO12 outfit yesterday on a one-year deal from South African Super Rugby franchise the Sharks, subject to a visa and medical. He has 14 caps for Namibia and played for them at the World Cup last year - and will be hoping to make his mark in the league like Fijian Leone Nakarawa did in his three years as a Warrior.
Uanivi has previously played in Europe for French side Brive and Townsend said: “We believe he’ll fit in well in our environment and challenge for a starting place in our forward pack. He has excellent athleticism and put in a number of impressive performances for Namibia at last year’s World Cup.
"We believe Tjiuee’s strengths suit the high tempo rugby we aspire to play, but he will have to work hard every day to win a starting place up against the other second-rows at the club. We now have a really good balance within our second-row group for next season and it will be exciting to see them build partnerships and continue to improve.”
Uanivi, who can also play in the back row, added: “I’m very pleased to have this opportunity to play with Glasgow Warriors. It's a club with a rich history, who play exciting rugby and have had lots of recent success and I will do all I can to help that continue. The new artificial pitch at Scotstoun will really suit my style of play and I can’t wait to get started with the players and coaches.”
Meanwhile, along the M8, former Warrior Kevin Bryce knows he has a busy few months ahead at new club Edinburgh Rugby as he switches positions from hooker to tighthead prop. The 27-year-old Scotland cap explained: “While I was at the World Cup last year Vern Cotter suggested - with good hookers around - that there might be more opportunity in the future at tighthead.
“I had to think about it because it's not the easiest position to move to, it's very technical, but the more I thought about it the more it appealed and I decided to go for it. There are still a lot of good tightheads around, but here at Edinburgh I've got one of the best in the world in WP Nel and I'm hoping to learn from him in the coming weeks and months.”
Later today the Warriors and Edinburgh will learn their European competition pools for 2016/17. The draw for the Challenge Cup, which Edinburgh are in, starts at 1pm UK time in Neuchatel, Switzerland. The Champions Cup draw then follows straight after with the Warriors amongst the Tier 2 sides with reigning champions Saracens leading the Tier 1 sides. The draws will be streamed live on epcrugby.com and the first round of fixtures are set to be played between October 13 and 16.
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