Scottish scrumhalf joins Finn Russell in Paris

Scarlets scrumhalf Sam Hidalgo-Clyne has landed a new contract with French Top 14 giants Racing 92 following his loan at the Harlequins.

The Scottish scrum-half announced that he was leaving the Welsh region by mutual consent having signed from Edinburgh last season and made 18 appearances for Scarlets before joining Premiership side Harlequins for a loan spell in March.

The 25-year-old explained: “I have enjoyed my time at the Scarlets. The boys are great and the fans are very passionate, but it’s best for all concerned that I continue my rugby career elsewhere.”

Hidalgo-Clyne was linked with TOP14 champions Toulouse but has joined Racing 92 to provide cover during the Rugby World Cup.

Speaking to the Offside Line he explained why he picked the Paris-club over Toulouse

“I was looking to sign with Toulouse – we were in talks – and I was pretty much about to sign for them,” Hidalgo-Clyne told The Offside Line.

“Then on Thursday night Racing came in and said they wanted to sign me for World Cup cover, which is what was on the table at Toulouse.

“The call was from Mike Prendergast, and he was really keen to work with me. He’s Irish, and as I can’t speak any French yet it will be really useful to have him there. My aim is to learn French as quickly and as well as I can, and I’m really keen that Hugo [his infant son] has the opportunity to learn it too, but right now it will be great to have Mike to talk to as he’s an English speaker – and he’s an ex-scrum-half as well, so he’s got a very clear idea of what he wants from me.

“Toulouse is obviously an incredible club, but with a four-and-a-half-month contract, to settle in as quickly as possible where there are very few English-speaking people would have been tough. So I decided that Paris might be the better option for me – not just for the next few months but also as a longer-term possibility.

“It happened very quickly and it all got signed up yesterday. I’m going over there on Tuesday, so it’s all been very quick. I’m excited.”

Along with Hidalgo-Clyne, the club has signed back row Yoan Tanga Mangene on a short-term basis.