Reds catch themselves a Kiwi
Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:40
The Reds have taken advantage of the Australian Rugby Union's new rule that permits foreign recruits in the Super 14 by signing Australian-born New Zealand Super 14 forward Ezra Taylor on a two-year contract.
The versatile 25-year-old loose forward made his Super 14 debut for the Highlanders in 2007 but missed the 2008 season with a serious knee injury.
Taylor, 1.94m tall and weighing in at 111kg, was born in Brisbane in 1983 when his parents were living in Australia while on an extensive overseas working holiday. They moved back to New Zealand when he was three.
Taylor said he'd been pondering a move back across the Tasman for the some time.
"I'd been looking at it [moving to Brisbane] for the last three years. But when I had the knee injury this year I had more time to think about what I wanted to do in my rugby career and decided to make the move."
Queensland Rugby Union Performance Manager Ben Whitaker said the unexpected decision by long-serving Reds' captain John Roe to retire for injury reasons created a vacancy in the Reds' back row stocks and Taylor fitted the bill.
"Ezra's had high-level experience already but has the potential to go much further. He's a big, abrasive backrower [loose forward] who carries the ball well and, because of his past experience playing at lock, also jumps extremely well in the lineout," Whitaker said.
"He wants to come to Queensland to develop his game and he's signed today [Tuesday] in the full knowledge that he'll be vying for the No.8 spot with our 2008 Rookie of the Year Leroy Houston, which gives us tremendous depth and competition for that position."
Taylor's partner, Olympic basketballer Natalie Purcell, is also heading to south-east Queensland to play with the new Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) franchise the Logan Thunder, after playing for the Christchurch Sirens in the WNBL and representing New Zealand at the Beijing Olympics.
Taylor grew up in the Auckland area, representing New Zealand secondary schools and NZ Under-19 in 2002. He played three games for Otago in 2006 and made his Super 14 debut for the Highlanders against the Lions in 2007, winning a total of eight Super 14 caps for the season.
