Otago Rugby have confirmed today that Josh Tatapu and Joe Hill have been contracted to the Union and will join the Otago squad for the 2010 ITM Cup.
24 year old Tatupu is a mid-fielder who is currently playing for the Western Force in the Rebel Sport Super 14. A former Samoan league representative, he made his debut for the Western Force in 2008 against the Lions in Johannesburg.
Tatapu is originally from Christchurch and still has family living in Canterbury.
21 year old Hill is a fullback who played for Wellington in the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup. He was a member of the unbeaten New Zealand under 20 team that won the IRB world title in Wales in 2008.
He has family ties to the Otago province with family in Gore and Dunedin and also a sister studying at Otago University. Both players arrive in Dunedin in June to join the Otago training squad.
Otago Coach Phil Mooney was pleased with securing the signatures of both players for the 2010 ITM Cup. "Both Josh and Joe are exciting young players who bring excellent qualities to our team.
They are both ambitious and will provide depth and internal competition within our squad. I am looking forward to working with them" commented Mooney The ORFU Board has been working hard behind the scenes to secure additional funding to allow the Union to attract players to the province and also ensure current players can be retained.
"We’ve established a fundraising committee at ORFU board level that has been working hard to secure funds that can be used directly for the procurement and retention of players’ ORFU Chairman Wayne Graham commented The Otago Rugby 1st XV has been set-up as a new sponsorship vehicle with all funds being tagged to the payment, retention and attraction of players.
"The Otago Rugby 1st XV allows both individuals and businesses to make a contribution to Otago Rugby that will go directly to player development and retention. The fundraising initiative has only been in operation for four weeks, but the support from the Otago community has been great’ added Graham.
The full Otago squad will be announced in June and then warm-up games will be played against Southland and Tasman in July as a lead in to the 2010 ITM Cup Competition.
