Exeter Chiefs sign Tonga international Kata

Exeter Chiefs have signed Tonga international and rugby league convert Solomone Kata on a one-year deal.

The 27-year-old joins from Super Rugby franchise, Moana Pasifika, where he spent the 2022 season.

The back began his career in league, playing for New Zealand Warriors and Melbourne Storm, before switching to union in 2020.

Kata spent two years playing with the Brumbies in Australia and has been capped by Tonga in both codes.

He made his Tonga debut in the autumn international defeat by England at Twickenham in November.

“I’ve watched a few games and I know it’s really physical here in the UK,” Kata said.

“I like that, it plays to my strengths. I don’t have a fancy step or anything like that, I just like to go through people and enjoy the contact.”

“He’s explosive, he’s dangerous and he’s a quality player,” said Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter.

“Obviously, he’s just got it so he will take a few days to get up to speed, but you can tell by meeting him that he’s already settling in well to the group and will give us those options we need in midfield.

“It’s no secret that Ollie Devoto is still some way away from returning, Henry [Slade] and Hendo [Tom Hendrickson] are still recovering from operations too, so we were looking a bit thin in that area.

“That said, when a guy of Sol’s quality comes onto the market, we had a good look at him – we liked what we saw – and we’ve brought him here. It’s over to him now to get on the field and show us what he can do.

“Talking to him, you get that feeling that’s he’s up for a new challenge. He’s here now and he’s ready to go. In an ideal world, we would have liked to have signed him for more than a year, but he said ‘I’ll take the year, I’ll take my chance’ because he does think he will take-off over here. We will see what happens then.”