Former All Black Sam Whitelock will make his debut for Pau in December

Leading recruit for the Paloise Division, New Zealand second row Sam Whitelock will soon join Béarn and will soon make his debut in the top 14. This was confirmed by the director of Pau Sébastien Piquéronies Our colleagues fromRugby News : “Sam is due to arrive next week (From Monday, November 27). He will integrate with us very quickly, and we will prepare him to play his first minutes in December. He will not be on the scoresheet in Toulon (December 2).”

So he could start when the Baloise Division visit the Durban Sharks, on the first day of the Challenge Cup, or when they host the Welsh Dragons in Newport the following week. The unhappy qualifier to the last World Cup (defeat to South Africa), the man who, during the World Cup, became the most capped player in the history of the All Black (153 caps) will join his brother, third-placed, in Pau. Whitlock, captain of a team that has had an excellent start to the season and which now sits fourth in the standings.