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Ex All Black one of two Northampton Saints departures

Matt Proctor /PA

Northampton Saints have confirmed the departure of former All Blacks centre Matt Proctor from Franklin’s Gardens at the end of the season.

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The one-cap New Zealand international has made 72 appearances for the Saints since joining from the Hurricanes in 2019, and will depart alongside academy graduate James Fish. The hooker made his Saints debut in 2016 and has gone on to make 77 appearances.

The pair have not been involved in matchday squads in recent weeks after Proctor picked up a leg injury in March. Nevertheless, they will want to end their Saints careers on a high, with the side already qualified for the Gallagher Premiership semi-finals.

On his departure, Proctor said: “I’m really proud to have represented Northampton Saints these last four seasons.

“When I first came over, I didn’t know what to expect, and it was obviously a challenging time to be halfway across the world from friends and family during the pandemic, but I have felt welcomed by the special rugby community here in Northampton ever since I first pulled on a Black, Green and Gold jersey.

“I want to thank everyone who has been a part of my time here, and while my injury will stop me from running out at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens one last time, I’ll always remember the feeling of playing here in Northampton with huge fondness.” 

Fish added: “I’ve had a great experience during my six seasons with Saints, and I feel very proud to have spent the majority of my career so far playing for Northampton.

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“The time has come for me to move on, but I’m looking forward to a new challenge and I wish the rest of the squad and the coaches the very best for the future. For now, I’m focused on helping the team finish off the season as strongly as possible.”

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Head high tackle 3 hours ago
Can Samoa and Tonga ever become contenders when their top talent is skimmed?

I think you have gone in the wrong direction here Nick. I think you need to delve down into the rules etc around Moana Pacifica’s selection policies and then you need to understand that a lot of KIWI BORN rugby players have PI heritage. It appears ok for the 4 home nations to pillage NZ born players constantly without retribution but you want to question whether NZ BORN players should be eligible for NZ? Seems a real agenda in there.

Go back and look at the actual Aims and agenda for MP becoming a entity and you see lots of things enshrined in policy that you arnt mentioning here. EG there is an allowance for a percentage of MP to be NZ eligible. This was done so MP could actually become competitive. Lets be real. If it wasnt this way then MP would not be competitive.

There also seems to be some sort of claim ( mainly from the NH ) that NZ is “cashing in” on MP, which , quite frankly is a major error. Are you aware of how much MP costs NZR Financially?

39 NZ born rugby players played at the last world cup for Samoa or Tonga. PLUS plenty for Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales.

Taumoefolau is a BORN AND BRED NZer. However I very strongly doubt he will be an AB, but who do you believe he should be allowed to play for? Levi Aumua is ALSO a born and bred Kiwi.

Aumua was eligible to represent Samoa and Fiji for the Pacific Nations Cup in July that year but ended up playing for neither. He IS eligible for his nation of Birth too Nick

He is a Kiwi. Are you saying an NZ born, raised Kiwi cant play for NZ now?

Sorry Nick Kiwi born and bred actually qualify for NZ.

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