Leicester Tigers have signed Australian back Bryce Hegarty.
The 28-year-old will join Tigers ahead of the 2021/22 season from Super Rugby Australia champions, the Queensland Reds.
He is a tough, hard-working young man and joins Tigers on the back of playing a key role in the Super Rugby title-winning campaign for the Queensland Reds
Steve Borthwick on Bryce Hegarty
Born in Brisbane, Hegarty played junior representative rugby league for Brisbane Broncos before making the switch to rugby union in 2013 with Melbourne Rebels.
He moved to Japan Top League team Toyota Shokki Shuttles in 2015 before returning to Australia with the New South Wales Waratahs a year later.
In 2018, he returned to Japan with the Ricoh Black Rams for one season before linking up with the Queensland Reds.
Hegarty made his 100th Super Rugby appearance during the Queensland club’s title-winning 2021 season, which included a starring performance in the first win on New Zealand soil for an Australian side in three years.
Speaking about the addition of Hegarty ahead of the 2021/22 campaign, Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick said: “Bryce is an outstanding player, who brings a wealth of experience to Leicester Tigers after having been a part of some strong rugby programmes in the southern hemisphere.
“He is a tough, hard-working young man and joins Tigers on the back of playing a key role in the Super Rugby title-winning campaign for the Queensland Reds.
“Bryce’s positional flexibility – capable of playing at fly-half, full-back and in the centres – adds valuable depth to our squad as well as bringing with him a strong kicking game and successful goal-kicking record.
“In addition to what he brings on the field, Bryce is an impressive person off the pitch and the type of character we want at our club, contributing to what we are building at Leicester Tigers.”
Discussing his move to Tigers, Hegarty said: “I’m looking forward to the new, exciting challenge of being part of a club like Leicester Tigers.
“After speaking with Steve about what he is building at Tigers, it was an easy decision for me to want to be a part of a team which is on the up.
“Ultimately, I want to win. That’s the goal and that’s why I’m coming over, to be a part of a team which is challenging for trophies.
“I enjoyed hearing from Steve about the style of rugby Tigers are going to play, where he sees me fitting in there and just the will to win and work hard to get results.”
The Australian is Borthwick’s 10th addition to the Tigers for the 2021/22 campaign alongside the already-announced Freddie Burns, Juan-Pablo Socino, Eli Snyman, Marco Van Staden, Francois Van Wyk and four graduates from the Leicester Tigers Academy.
