Wednesday 20 August 2014 14:12, UK
Leicester Tigers have signed New Zealand legend Brad Thorn.
Veteran lock Thorn, 39, was the first player to win the treble of World Cup, Super Rugby and Heineken Cup titles.
Leicester's Director of Rugby Richard Cockerill told the Mercury: “He is a very driven individual. He wants to play in the Premiership and he wants to win the Premiership.
“He will turn 40 during the season but if anyone questions his age or commitment, you wait until you meet him. He is one of the great all-time rugby players the world has ever seen.”
Thorn was formerly an Australia rugby league international – his family moved from New Zealand to Australia when he was a boy – and he enjoyed a 10-year career in the NRL with the Brisbane Broncos.
He switched to union in 2001, joining the Crusaders in his native New Zealand. After switching back to league mid-decade for a couple of years, he returned to Canterbury in 2008 and won the Super 14 title.
He became a regular for New Zealand in the next few years, winning 59 All Blacks caps and he was one of their standout players as they won the World Cup on home soil in 2011.
Thorn moved to Japan after the World Cup but then moved to Leinster as an injury joker and he won the Heineken Cup with the Irish giants in 2012.
