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Former Wasps lock set for Premiership return after short URC stint
Ex-Wasps lock Kiran McDonald is primed for a return to the Gallagher Premiership in 2023/24 after he agreed on a deal to join Newcastle Falcons. The Scottish forward was quickly snapped up by Munster after the October 17 Wasps collapse but with that short-term deal ending on January 31, his long-term future will now be back in England.
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A statement read: “Lock Kiran McDonald will join Newcastle Falcons this summer on a two-year deal, with the experienced Scot having played for Munster, Wasps and the Barbarians this season.
“The 28-year-old stands at 6ft 8ins(202cm) and 18 stone 4 (116kg), playing more than 50 times for Glasgow Warriors in the Heineken Champions Cup and United Rugby Championship before moving to Wasps last year.
“McDonald was called up by Scotland for their summer tour in 2021 only to see all three games cancelled due to covid, and was last year involved in their Six Nations training squad. Leaving hometown club Glasgow this season, he made four Gallagher Premiership starts for Wasps before the club were suspended from the competition in October.
“Taking up a three-month deal with Munster in the interim, McDonald was part of the side as the Irish province defeated South Africa 28-14 in front of a sell-out 41,000 crowd in Cork, and played for a star-studded Barbarians squad on their European tour. He will head to the north eat in July to link up with the Falcons.”
McDonald said: “Newcastle have had some great results and scored some electric tries with the quick and skilful backs they have got, and it’s definitely going in the right direction with the kind of rugby they want to play. I have been to Kingston Park and it’s quite an intimate setting where you can feel the crowd being close to the pitch, and that will be really good to experience.
“I can imagine it’s a big advantage for the boys having that support behind you, and then in terms of the weather it will be similar to what I’m used to in Glasgow. I’m a Scotsman so it’s not very far away from home, and my partner and I are expecting our first child in March.
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“It’s helpful from a family side of things to be so close to Scotland and from a rugby perspective, it’s a really exciting place to be. I have been watching the Falcons’ games for a while now and they’ve been playing some great stuff, so it’s exciting to be a part of that.
“It’s been a bit of a crazy few months, but I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason. I have had a positive experience with Munster and the Barbarians, we have got a baby on the way and an exciting new start in Newcastle to look forward to.
“From what I gather it’s quite similar to Glasgow as a city in terms of the type of people and the pride they have in the area, and it’s close enough to Scotland that we can have that support network of family within arm’s reach.
“Having a few months with Munster was great. Everyone knows what a big team they are, it was a good learning opportunity and a chance to get some rugby under my belt after everything that happened with Wasps.
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“It’s kept me ticking over in terms of bridging the gap between coming to Newcastle, and I’ve had some great experiences like being in the Munster team which beat South Africa in front of more than 40,000 supporters. It felt like 80,000 and was just an incredible atmosphere, and then I was also lucky enough to tour with the Barbarians.”
Newcastle boss Dave Walder added: “Kiran brings a good amount of experience and physicality to our forward pack, and we’re looking forward to him starting with us in the summer.
“He is a big presence in the lineout who has had a taste of the Gallagher Premiership with his time at Wasps during the start of the season, and he has the attitude and work ethic that we look for from our players.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
16 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
16 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
16 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
16 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
16 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
16 Go to comments