Paul Lasike will return to the Utah Warriors next month. Harlequins have agreed to release the USA Eagles star from his contract early. Lasike is currently on loan to RFU Championship side London Scottish but will continue to be available for the Premiership side during the international window.
This past year was a tumultuous one for Lasike. He suffered an Achilles injury in June and missed out on the entirety of the USA’s international test series, and the first half of the English Premiership campaign. The 31-year-old made his competitive return to action just 10 days ago with London Scottish.
Utah’s captain during the inaugural 2018 Major League Rugby season, Lasike’s return will be a massive boost to the Warriors as they make a push for the playoffs in a hyper-competitive Western Conference. It will also be welcome news to Eagles coach Gary Gold who should now have one of his star midfielders back in contention for the upcoming World Cup Qualifying series against Chile.
Lasike is not the only overseas Eagles star departing Europe. Reports from France indicate that Joe Taufete’e has asked for an early release from his contract with Lyon to join an undisclosed MLR team. Formerly a hooker, Taufete’e made the switch to tighthead prop with club and country last year and featured in the USA’s fall qualifiers against both Canada and Uruguay.