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Prop Dermody joins flight overseas

Thursday, 3 May 2007

Clarke Dermody has joined the player drain with Southland's All Black prop signing with English club London Irish.

Dermody told The Southland Times yesterday he was leaving New Zealand rugby to take up a two-and-a-half-year contract with the English premiership club starting in November.

The November move means the Stags captain will still be available for All Black selection for the World Cup in France in September and October.

The 27-year-old joins Anton Oliver, Carl Hayman, Filipo Levi and Josh Blackie who will depart the Highlanders after the final round-robin fixture against the Brumbies at Carisbrook on Saturday night.

Dermody said yesterday he and his wife Sarah had been contemplating an overseas move for some time but only recently decided to take the plunge.

The couple's son Carter is just 1 year old and Dermody felt now was the right time to take on the overseas challenge, with their likely return to New Zealand in 2009 giving Carter plenty of time to settle back in before starting school.

Dermody said having to shift his young family from Invercargill to Dunedin every six months for the Super 14 season was also a factor in heading to London, with he and his wife wanting to settle in one place for an extended period.

Dermody admits he was stepping outside his comfort zone leaving New Zealand rugby.

"It is exciting but it's going to be like shifting to a new school. I won't know anyone until I start making a few new mates," he said.

Turning his back on Southland was something which had made the decision that much more stressful, Dermody said.

"Southland rugby's been a huge part of my life and they've done a lot for me."


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:lol: so who's left?
 
Tony Woodcock and Greg Sommerville. You should know Tialata well enough now as well.

Therefore the status quo still remains the same - Our Front Row > Your Front Row,
 
plenty still left like ripper side. woodcock, sommerville and tialata are all proven performers at the top level. we maybe losing playing but there still is quality left and more coming through.
 
Surprised Dermodys leaving, he finally gets a small role in the All Blacks and with Haymen leaving he should've had at least a Bench Spot every game sewn up for the All Blacks.

But i'm not that worried, as long as Mike Cron is still in the mix we will still be fine, Haymen looked like he would be one of those players who played a couple of tests and that was it, but under Cron he developed into the best scrummager in the world. Ditto with Tony Woodcock (Who's resigned till 2009 - Woot).
 
yeah mike cron is a legend and has played a massive role in sorting out the abs scrum. he is a big reason when the nz front row has been so good over the last few years and why the abs have so many quality props now
 
Or how about that huge prop from the Baby Blacks? He performed very well at the Under 19 World Cup this year. I think he's Tongan, his last name is Afeaki, sound familar? So he has a good future.
 
Is he related to Ionie? The one who used to play for Wellington? From memory he was about the make the All Blacks, than the rules changed so he went overseas and suddenly wanted to play for Tonga after shunning them.
 
Or how about that huge prop from the Baby Blacks? He performed very well at the Under 19 World Cup this year. I think he's Tongan, his last name is Afeaki, sound familar? So he has a good future.
[/b]

Ben Afeaki is the younger brother of Tongan internationals Inoke & Stanley Afeaki.

He is a big unit.
 
Tony Woodcock and Greg Sommerville. You should know Tialata well enough now as well.

Therefore the status quo still remains the same - Our Front Row > Your Front Row,
[/b]

Come on Ripper, everyone knows that even Harlow College 4th XV front row > Australia's front row! :lol:
 

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