Otago Rugby announced today that they have contracted two additional locks for this year’s Mitre 10 Cup campaign.

Local player Tom Rowe from the Zingari-Richmond club has been contracted on the back of a strong club season and will be looking to add to his two appearances for Otago in 2016.

Josh Furno, who has 37 caps for the Italian national team, will be joining Otago early next month having played this season for the Italian club Zebre in the Guiness Pro12 competition.

‘’With the departure of Tom Franklin we were in the position of needing to replace him as well as looking to the future’’ said Head Coach Cory Brown. “This is a great opportunity for Tom Rowe and our other players to further develop their game alongside Josh, who is an experienced lineout operator at international level who will add great value to Otago Rugby in 2017”. 

Josh Furno is looking forward to his move. "I'm delighted to be joining Otago ahead of the upcoming Mitre 10 campaign” said Furno. “I know it's a very strong competition and I have always wanted to play rugby in New Zealand so this move represents a fantastic opportunity to test myself against the very best. I am looking forward to meeting my new teammates and the coaching staff. I will be working hard to show the team’s supporters my best rugby and to help the team achieve our goals this season."