{"id":100972,"date":"2025-05-14T14:16:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T14:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/100972\/"},"modified":"2025-05-14T14:16:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T14:16:14","slug":"ex-england-prospect-heads-to-proper-rugby-city-after-connacht-exit-planet-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/100972\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-England prospect heads to ‘proper rugby city’ after Connacht exit : Planet Rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former England U20s player Piers O\u2019Conor has signed a two-year deal with\u00a0Edinburgh Rugby following a short stint in Ireland with Connacht.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sydney-born centre has featured in 17 matches for Connacht<\/a> since arriving in Galway last year, scoring three tries. He has been a standout player for the Irish side, topping the club charts\u00a0for the most carries (159), metres gained (710), defenders beaten (32), and clean breaks.<\/p>\n

Despite an impressive start, the utility back has expressed his desire to move on to a \u201cnew environment\u201d with a \u201cstrong squad\u201d ahead of the 2025\/26 URC<\/a> season.<\/p>\n

Piers O\u2019Conor heads to Scotland in the summer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many English fans will recognise O\u2019Conor<\/a> from his time at Bristol Bears, where he\u00a0scored 36 tries in 137 matches over a six-year period. <\/p>\n

During his time in the English West Country, he helped Bristol to European Rugby Challenge Cup victory in 2020 and enjoyed a first-place finish in the Gallagher Premiership \u2013 sadly losing out to Harlequins in the playoff semi-final that year.<\/p>\n

In a post shared on the club\u2019s website, the 29-year-old has said that he is looking forward to the move, stating: \u201cI\u2019m really excited to get started. Joining a club like Edinburgh<\/a> is a big opportunity: it\u2019s a new environment and a strong squad. It\u2019s a great challenge and I\u2019m looking forward to getting stuck in, meeting the group, and doing my bit to help the team push on and win some silverware.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fresh start and a move I\u2019m looking forward to. Moving to a new city brings new opportunities, on and off the pitch. I can\u2019t wait to get up there, get settled and get to work. Edinburgh\u2019s a proper rugby city with a strong identity and I\u2019m keen to make it home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henry Pollock rubbishes \u2018conspiracy theory\u2019 about \u2018pulse check\u2019 celebration against Leinster<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sale issue Tom Curry injury update confirming the British and Irish Lions pick is scheduled for an operation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

O\u2019Conor exactly what Edinburgh are looking for<\/p>\n

Edinburgh Rugby Head Coach\u00a0Sean Everitt\u00a0added: \u201cPiers is exactly the type of quality operator we look for in a non-Scottish qualified signing. He\u2019s an excellent player with the ability to cover multiple positions across the backline, which is hugely valuable for us in managing the demands of a long season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis arrival complements the recent re-signing\/signing of exciting young Scottish backs like Harry Paterson, Jack Brown and Malelili Satala, and his experience and leadership will be invaluable in helping to get the very best out of other younger players coming through our academy system such as Lewis Wells, Findlay Thomson and Finlay Doyle. Piers isn\u2019t here to block anyone\u2019s progress; instead, we see him as a catalyst who will further improve those around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis consistent performances and impressive statistics speak for themselves, and his experience and leadership qualities will be a significant asset to our squad both on and off the field. We can\u2019t wait to welcome him to the club this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu fields \u2018astronomical offers\u2019 as Manie Libbok signs for Quade Cooper\u2019s club<\/a>
<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former England U20s player Piers O\u2019Conor has signed a two-year deal with\u00a0Edinburgh Rugby following a short stint in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[381,748,19909,1102,393,4884,225,12,46847,16,15,4510],"class_list":{"0":"post-100972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-connacht","11":"tag-edinburgh","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-home-page","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-piers-o","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-united-rugby-championship"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114506615071492149","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}