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Austin Elite have secured the signature of Spain international David Mélé for the 2020 Major League Rugby season. A native of Narbonne, France, the 33-year-old is set to act as a player-coach with the side, bringing more than a decade’s worth of professional experience in France and England.
Mélé will arrive from Top 14 club Perpignan, whom he joined for a second time from Grenoble ahead of the 2018-19 season. A versatile halfback who can play both scrumhalf and flyhalf, Mélé spent seven seasons with Perpignan until joining Leicester in 2013. After two seasons he spent a season with Toulouse before making the move to Grenoble in 2016.
At the international level he represented the France Sevens sevens side in 2006 and 2007. It was recently determined that as it was not an HSBC Sevens event, this constituted a development side and he was free to make his test debut for Spain against Belgium earlier this year.
With more than 150 games in the Top 14 and nearly 50 in European competition, Mélé is set to fill an experience gap for the Elite with the troublesome flyhalf position his most likely destination. He is also a capable goal kicker with his 198 points scored during the 2017-18 Pro D2 season among the league’s best.
