Glasgow Warriors sign Lions prop Dell

Glasgow Warriors have signed British and Irish Lion and Scotland international prop Allan Dell, who has joined the club ahead of the coming season.

Following his signing of a deal earlier in 2022, the loosehead will join his new teammates for block one of the preseason at Scotstoun.

The 30-year-old, who has earned 34 caps for Scotland to date, joins Glasgow after three seasons with London Irish, where he made 40 appearances for an English Premiership team.

“I’m excited to get stuck into life in Glasgow,” Dell told glasgowwarriors.org. “It’s a good group of boys here, and it’s always been a club that’s played an attractive brand of rugby. To come back to Scotland and be a part of that is a really exciting prospect.

“My gran is originally from Paisley, too, so there’s a really nice family feel to coming back north and pulling on the Glasgow shirt.

“There’s a really good crop of guys in the front-row here, too – Jamie [Bhatti], Oli [Kebble] Simon [Berghan] and Zander [Fagerson] I obviously know from Scotland camp, but even guys like Nathan McBeth and Murphy Walker are really talented young props. The good thing is that we’ll all push each other and challenge each other to get better, which can only be good for the club overall.

“It’ll be nice to have the fans on my side, too! The crowd always gets stuck into you as the opposition and always get right behind their team, it’s a brilliant atmosphere. I can’t wait to be a part of it and get this club back to where it should be.”

Dell served Edinburgh well for five seasons prior to relocating south after first relocating to the capital in 2014.

Glasgow Warriors Scrum Coach Al Dickinson said of the signing: “We’re excited to add Allan to our squad ahead of the new season.

“He’s a loose-head who has proven he can perform at the highest level, and adds to the quality and depth of the props we already have at Scotstoun.

“He’s also gained valuable experience in the English Premiership, which I know from experience to be a relentless league for front-rowers and will only have made him a better player.

“His enthusiasm for the game and experience will drive and challenge the players around him, and we’re looking forward to welcoming him to the environment for pre-season next week.”

His performance during the 2016–17 earned him a spot in the British and Irish Lions squad as an injury replacement for the 2017 tour of New Zealand. When he came off the bench against the Hurricanes in the tour’s final midweek game, he became the 834th player to don the fabled red jersey.

He was also invited to play for the Barbarians in their 26-7 victory against Spain last month in Gijon.

Further recruitment will be overseen by the club’s new head coach, who has yet to be named following the exit of Danny Wilson.