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Connor Braid is set to resume his professional career in a new division – the Aviva Premiership. As first reported by Phil Meyer on BC Rugby News, the Canadian flyhalf has been offered a contract by the Worcester Warriors and should join up with the club following Canada’s final tour match against Samoa in Grenoble, France, on Friday evening. The terms of the deal are still to be confirmed but Braid’s arrival would add another option to their own unsettled no10 shirt that has been filled by Tom Heathcote, Ryan Lamb, and most recently 19-year-old Jamie Shillcock.
[EDIT: The contract is now confirmed to be until the end of the 2016-17 season.]
It marks a dramatic rise in recent weeks for Braid, who only just returned to international contention from a self-imposed year-long hiatus taken following the 2015 World Cup. A steady return against Ireland reportedly was enough to convince Worcester scouts and the follow-up against Romania would not have disappointed from an individual standpoint. This will not be his first foray in professional rugby having previously played for Doncaster and London Scottish in the Greene King IPA Championship, and also spending time with Glasgow Warriors in the Pro 12 during the 2014-15 season.
Worcester currently sit in 11th spot in the Premiership, seven points above Bristol who are firm favorites to be relegated having lost all eight of their matches thus far. Current England centre Ben Te’o is a marquee name at the club while former Ireland second row Donncha O’Callaghan is a regular starter. Other notable internationals currently on the books for Warriors include Manu Samoa loose forward Alafoti Fa’osiliva and Springbok trio Dewald Potgieter, Wynand Olivier, and Francois Hougaard.
