Connor Collett pens new Falcons deal

Newcaslte Falcons flanker Connor Collett is the latest player to renew terms with the Kingston Park club, signing a new two-year deal.

The 23-year-old Englishman is completing his first season with the Falcons after joining from New Zealand province North Harbour, for whom he played in the final of the Mitre 10 Cup.

The former Stamford School pupil moved to New Zealand at the age of 18 and worked his way up through the North Harbour club game, earning full provincial honours and impressing enough to earn his move to Newcastle last summer.

Making two first-team appearances and forming an integral part of the Falcons A-Team which claimed the Northern Conference title in this season’s Premiership Rugby Shield, Collett said: “I am excited to be given the opportunity to continue to progress at the club.

“I have settled in very well this year with help from players and staff, and I am looking forward to what the next couple of years may bring.”

Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards said: “Connor is a very talented player who has backed up the initial promise that we saw in him, and he is really pushing hard for selection.

“He is an out-and-out open-side who offers us a real threat at the breakdown, and his support running is another weapon in our attacking game.

“It’s fantastic to have him signed up on a newly-extended deal, and he is one of many bright young English players that we have on our books.”