Edinburgh's Monday signing spree
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Edinburgh confirmed four new signings for the 2019/20 season on Monday as well as the re-signing of Scotland International Hamish Watson.
The 25-times capped international has been an electric performer both club and country and signs an extension that will see him remain in the capital until at least 2021.
#MagicMonday✍️ | Mish re-signs until 2021. 🙌 Scotland star @hamishwatson7 becomes our fifth and final signing of #MagicMonday!#Mish2021 pic.twitter.com/fwpCzj36Pj
— Edinburgh Rugby (@EdinburghRugby) March 25, 2019
The Scottish signed confirmed Bristol Bears flanker Nick Haining on a two-year deal as their first signing before going on to announce the signatures of Southern Kings hooker Mike Willemse and Fiji Sevens pair Kalione Nasoko and Eroni Sau.
Nicknamed ‘The Sledgehammer’ due to his ferocious attacking and defensive play, Eroni Sau made his Fiji Sevens debut in 2017 and an immediate impact on the World Rugby Sevens Series earned him the Rookie of the Season title and a place in the overall Series Dream Team.
Sau made his full international debut in XV-a-side last November, scoring a hat-trick in Fiji's 68-7 victory over Uruguay.
6ft 3in, 92kg flyer Kalione Nasoko was named in the World Rugby Sevens Series Dream Team in both 2017 and 2018. To date, Nasoko has played 142 games on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens circuit, scoring 63 tries.
Haining joined Bristol from Jersey Reds at the beginning of the 2017/18 season, having been one of the Channel Islanders’ standout performers in the English Championship. In his first year in the West Country, the back-row played a pivotal role in helping Bristol to an immediate return to the Premiership. Haining scored one try in nine appearances during the 2017/18 campaign as the Ashton Gate outfit finished as league champions.
Former South African under-20 hooker Mike Willemse will join Edinburgh from fellow Guinness PRO14 side Southern Kings.
Willemse came through the ranks at the Eastern Province Kings, while playing Varsity Cup rugby with UCT Ikey Tigers – scoring three tries in six starts. Following the conclusion of the 2013 Varsity Cup, Willemse was called up to Western Province’s Vodacom Cup squad where he made his first team debut against Argentinian side Pampas XV.
Willemse made his Currie Cup debut during the same campaign as he came off the bench against the Sharks. The hooker was named in the Stormers Super Rugby squad for the 2014/15 season.
The Cape Town native joined current club Southern Kings in 2017 and has thus far made 36 appearances for the Port Elizabeth outfit, scoring five tries.
