Darlington Mowden Park are pleased to announce that tight head prop Matt Shields will join Premiership side Harlequins.
Originally from Cumbria, Shields joined Mowden at the start of the season following spells with Nottingham and Plymouth.
Having been released by Mowden to play for ‘Quins, the 24-year-old is now making the move to the London club after impressing in the LV= Cup and representing their A League team.
Mowden Park’s Director of Rugby Danny Brown said: “We are delighted for Matt and I hope it shows that, while we want to progress with players like Matt, we also want to see players develop to their full potential.
“And to do that at one of the biggest teams in club rugby is a real opportunity.
“Matt goes with our full backing and I would like to thank him for his time here at Mowden.
“His performances on the pitch and attitude off it has been fantastic, and he has been a pleasure to have around the club.”
Excited about the opportunity ahead, Shields was also quick to thank the National One club he is departing.
“I just want to say a massive thank you to Darlington Mowden Park for allowing me to pursue this opportunity,” he said.
“I have massively enjoyed my time here.
“It is clear that Darlington Mowden Park are a club going places.
“It has world class facilities as proved by the All Blacks using the Arena as their Rugby World Cup training base later this year, and the international double header next month.
“Both Danny and John (Newton, head coach) have been very supportive during the past few weeks when this opportunity arose.
“They have a history of developing players and giving them a good environment with an exciting style of play to enjoy.”
Matt will be joining up with his new team this week for the remainder of the season and is looking forward to the challenge ahead.
“Joining Harlequins is a huge honour for me, it’s a fantastic club with great tradition.
“I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season and building with them next year.”
No comments:
Post a Comment