Gloucester confirm John Afoa signing

After two days of heavy rumours, Gloucester have confirmed the arrival of former All Black tight head John Afoa.
On Wednesday, Ulster revealed their star prop was to leave Ravenhill for an “undisclosed” club but almost it did not take long for rumours about his arrival to Kingsholm to start.
This is major coup for the Cherry and Whites who struggled at the scrum for most of the season.
Afoa’s arrival could be soon followed by British & Irish Lions hooker Richard Hibbard who is also believed to be on his way.
Davies said: “This signing, amongst others, signals a statement of intent in terms of our playing philosophy at Gloucester; strengthening our core values as a forwards pack, playing our way with a team armed not just with power, but also the ability to play a rounded and completed game.
“Thanks to the hard work off the field and our loyal support at Gloucester, we are in a strong position as a club to be able to invest in the right players to ensure we meet our goals and ambitions going forward.
“A key signing like John’s is also fuelled by the fantastic commitment we have from our supporters with attendances at Kingsholm as healthy as ever this season, and we hope bringing in players of John’s calibre will reward that loyalty.
“Balancing our squad and building real depth in key areas is something we have been working hard on behind the scenes on for months, and John’s signing is a key element in that process.
“He had several good options in France, so we’ve had to work hard to bring him to Gloucester. It’s a real statement of where we’re hoping to go. A player of John’s stature can have a massive impact upon a relatively young pack of forwards and on our rugby environment in general.
“It’s clear our vision, ambition, our culture matched where he wants to be as a world-class player and, as a club with strong values, that he’s happy to become a part of with his young family.”
Afoa added: “It’s a very important move for me and for my family, and that was a big factor in my final decision. I had to consider them as well as the rugby side of things, and Gloucester was the right fit on all those fronts.
“Gloucester have got a good team in place already, but are now looking to try and take things up a level and that’s a really exciting prospect, similar to the challenge that I took on when I came to Ulster a couple of years ago.
“I’ve heard that the Gloucester fans appreciate their forward play, and I’m looking forward to that. I know that they already possess some really exciting backs, so I’ll be aiming to add to the tight five effort and help create a platform for those guys to play their game.
“Everyone tells me that Kingsholm is a fantastic stadium to play at and I had a taste of it last year with the Barbarians. I spent some time then with Mike Tindall so I feel I know a lot about the place already.
“And I’ve spoken to Jimmy (Cowan) quite a lot as we go back a long way. He only had good things to say about the club and what a great place it is to play rugby.
“It’s something new, a fresh challenge in a new league taking on new opponents and that’s going to be good for me. There are quite a few Kiwis already playing in the Premiership, so it’s going to be a great experience.”