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After signing All Blacks, Wallabies and other headline acts, Irish have now snapped up Moldovan lock from Russia

By Online Editors
(Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)

London Irish, who have had a penchant for world-class signings under Declan Kidney, have just sealed recruitment with a difference, snapping up Andrei Mahu, a Moldovan lock from the Russian league. 

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According to a statement from the Exiles, the 29-year-old lock will join the ahead of the 2020/21 season, moving from Krasny Yar Krasnoyarsk where he played against Irish for the Russian side in the Challenge Cup in 2017.

Mahu previously played for Politehnica Iasi, Piacenza, Zebre, Timisoara Saracens and Farul Constanta.

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That is a list of unfashionable clubs very much removed from the places where headline Kidney signings such as Sean O’Brien, Waisake Naholo, Adam Coleman and a whole truckload of other top tier international players earned their crust before signing for Irish. 

Director of rugby Kidney, said: “We’re really pleased to be welcoming Andrei to the club from the start of next season. He will bring his experience to our pack and will add more depth to our second row department.”

Mahu added: “I’m really excited to be joining London Irish. I can’t wait to meet up with my new teammates as we prepare for our first season back in London at the new stadium. It’s an incredibly exciting new chapter for the club – and I can’t wait to be part of it.”

Kidney vowed some weeks ago at the end of the 2019/20 regular-season Premiership campaign to make London Irish a much tougher team to beat when the 2020/21 Gallagher Premiership season gets going in November. Irish’s form in the recent restart was underwhelming, the Exiles losing eight of their nine matches. 

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They now have five-and-a-half weeks to get ready for their new campaign opener, a November 21 trip to Worcester, and they know that with the safety net of Saracens’ automatic relegation no longer protecting them next term, their recent run of results can’t be repeated. 

“It’s important we give the supporters answers,” admitted Kidney to Irish fans at a supporters’ club Zoom function. “We’re a club that focuses on results, not excuses – but it’s important to communicate with our supporters through the good times and the not so good times.”

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Bull Shark 1 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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