Scotland Rugby News [small_title title=”BREAKING NEWS”]
Glasgow Warriors have announce the signing of hugely experienced All Black Hooker Corey Flynn from Toulouse. He is due to arrive at Scotstoun at the end of this season on a 2 year deal, subject to medical.
The 35 year old from Invercargill shows no sign of slowing down having played 32 times for Toulouse last season. He’ll bring a wealth of experience to the Pro12 Champions having played 15 times for the All Blacks and a staggering 150 times for the SuperRugby Crusaders.
[blockquote author=”Cory Flynn” pull=”normal”]”I want to help the young hookers at the club by passing on my experience and helping them come to terms with professional rugby in a similar role to the one I had at the Crusaders.”[/blockquote]
With Fraser Brown and Pat McArthur signed until 2018, it’ll be quite the battle for the no.2 shirt. His experience will also be invaluable to promising young players like James Malcolm.
Toulouse’s New Zealand hooker Corey Flynn runs with the ball during…
Toulouse’s New Zealand hooker Corey Flynn runs with the ball during the French Top 14 rugby union match between Agen and Toulouse on August 29, 2015 at the Armandie stadium in Agen, southwestern… Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images
Apparently it was Sean Maitland who recommended the club to Flynn: “I jumped at the chance to join the Warriors after chatting to Gregor (Townsend) and I’m good friends with Sean Maitland and he couldn’t say enough good things about Glasgow.”
[blockquote author=”Corey Flynn” pull=”normal”]”When I played at Scotstoun last season the atmosphere was fantastic and it shows the club has a really good support base”[/blockquote]
This is a massive signing for the Warriors and quite the coup for Gregor Townsend, who had hinted at some big signings when talking about the loss of Taqele Naiyaravoro.
For the Warriors, who have looked a little underpowered in the scrum this season, this will be a huge signing. It will also help Jonny Gray having a leader of Flynn’s ability and experience around.
[blockquote author=”Glasgow Head Coach Gregor Townsend” pull=”normal”]”He will strengthen our leadership group, having captained Canterbury and the Crusaders, as well as the Junior All Blacks.”[/blockquote]
Let us know what you think of the signing in the comments below.
Photo Credit: All Blacks – Corey Flynn by Geoff Trotter
Video Credit: Glasgow Warriors
Johnny Sim James Flanagan
Coll Marshall
Again, a spot for a Scottish player gets filled. Yes it will help the Warriors, but with only 2 x Pro Teams, shouldn’t the focus be on strengthening the Scottish squad?
Can bring a lot of experience to help develop Brown and MacArthur
Playing the game will get them experience.
At 35, Flynn won’t be playing too much, and I can guarantee won’t be our regular starter
Is he a coach? Link isn’t working.
Gavin Petrie Really? Try this https://www.scotlandrugbynews.com/2016/02/signing-world-cup-winning-all-black-hooker-joins-glasgow-warriors/
If it’s largely for coaching, then I stand corrected.
The story has been updated with more info Gavin Petrie
OK, I can see why this could work out in the longer term.
Oliver Moore
Andrew Donnelly solid signing!
Daniel Ross
Nice fountain pen
More foreigners, very sad
Fantastic, less game time for Pat McArthur and Frazer Brown. Just what we need
Great signing. Will do a lot for the younger forwards in the team, can only benefit the club and standard of players in the national side.
Calum Goodfellow
I can’t understand the negativity from some regarding this signing.
A very experienced All Black has chosen Warriors as the place he wants to finish his playing career and begin his coaching one.
The club can only benefit from this.
Furthermore, losing a bit of game time to a player of this experience is nothing but a good thing from a young player development point of view…if they’re paying attention and learning from the old pro.
Cramming as many games as possible into a young player’s development can, in many proven cases, be counter productive.
Ryan McLaren
You need players fighting for places in the team. This will mean the you scottish players have to be as good or better than Flyn which should drive them to work harder.
Good move
The SRU seem to playing a strange game at the moment. Edinburgh are losing players all over the place (Tonks is away today with immediate effect) and signing NSQ players like Fynn may stop Glasgow SQ players getting game time. Hmmm.
Maybe he can teach Ross Ford how to throw straight while he’s in the country. How he’s been allowed to start when he can’t throw is a disgrace.
Richard Hubert Allan