SAMOA FLANKER RETURNING TO HARLEQUINS

Former Samoa flanker Maurie Fa’asavalu has confirmed that he will be completing a return to Harlequins Rugby Union after leaving St.Helens. Terms of the deal announced on Friday were not disclosed. The 30-year-old Fa’asavalu, recuperating from shoulder surgery in May, will join the London club in October.

After impressing for Samoa in 2002-03, including all four games at the Rugby World Cup in Australia, Fa’asavalu was lured by rugby league club St. Helens, which turned him into a prop.

He has played 164 games for St. Helens and qualified on residency for Britain, for which he scored on debut against New Zealand in 2007, and for England, for which he played three times in 2008.

“I have no doubt that he will be able to make an immediate impact on returning to union,” says Quins director of rugby Conor O’Shea. “He will bring experience and a new dimension to our options and is exactly the type of person we want at this club.”