Rotherham Titans are delighted to announce that tight head prop Matt Shields will join the club from Premiership side Harlequins ahead of the 2017/18 Championship season.
The former England Counties prop made 8 appearances for the London-based side last season and 17 in total, but his eagerness for more ‘game-time’ led to him penning a deal at Clifton Lane.
Shields, 27, was born in Carlisle and progressed through the Newcastle Falcons Academy before signing for Nottingham in his final year, where he played for two seasons. He then spent one year at Plymouth Albion, before joining Darlington Mowden Park at the start of the 2015/16 season and in February 2016 he joined Harlequins.
Matt will bring power and experience to the Titans front row and is excited about the challenges which lay ahead at Clifton Lane, as he explained, “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Harlequins and feel that I have learned and improved hugely in my time here.
“Particularly having the chance to work with Adam Jones and Graham Rowntree; this has provided me with a great learning environment.
“I'm now at a point where I need to be playing more regular rugby and after speaking to Andy and Nic it was very apparent that Rotherham was going to be a good fit for me. I'm excited by the challenge ahead and working hard with the team to get Rotherham back to the position in the league it deserves.”
You can give Matt a warm welcome to Rotherham via his Twitter account at: @Shieldsy91
