Brad Shields becomes latest Wasps player to find new club

Former England international Brad Shields has become the latest ex-Wasps player to find a new club, the 31-year-old agreeing to switch to France and join Top 14 strugglers Perpignan who are bottom of the table eight games into the season.

It was October 17 when the New Zealander, who signed for Wasps in 2018 to follow through on his ambition to play for England, was one of the 167 players and staff who were made redundant after the Coventry-based club financially went to the wall.

This left Lee Blackett’s squad scrambling to find new employers and six days after it was announced by Racing that Wasps tighthead Biyi Alo was moving to France, Shields has confirmed that he too will head across the Channel to see out the remainder of the 2022/23 season.

A Wednesday afternoon tweet from his new club read: “USA Perpignan formalises the signing of back row Brad Shields until the end of the season.” The post was accompanied by a 44-second video charting Shields’ career and listing his various appearances and achievements.

Shields had a truncated start to this season at Wasps, playing just the first half of their opening match at Gloucester due to injury, and it was September 15 when Blackett explained just how long the player’s layoff was likely to be.

'It was the hardest decision I had to make in my professional career so far.' @brad_shields talks to @heagneyl ??? about @WaspsRugby , buses, New Zealand and why he hasn't given up on returning to the England fold #Wasps #EnglandRugby https://t.co/47sEZfI0Ho

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 7, 2021

“Brad is a fractured thumb. It is going to be in a cast, the likelihood is for about six weeks but I would expect him to be playing within the next week or two after that,” said the coach at the time. It was since reported that Shields was likely to play for the Barbarians when Blackett co-coaches them in their November 26 fixture at Northampton, but his new club Perpignan have a Top 14 home game that same day versus Bordeaux.

Promoted as champions earlier this year from the Pro D2, Perpignan have endured a difficult start to life back in the Top 14 as they lost their opening three matches before winning their next two. However, they are now on a run of three losses heading into this Saturday’s fixture at home to Lyon.