Popular prop Lorne Ward has confirmed he has left London Welsh to join Rosslyn Park.
South African drops down a division to sign for ambitious Park
Popular prop Lorne Ward has confirmed he has left London Welsh to join Rosslyn Park.
The 34-year-old made 144 appearances for the Exiles over the space of two spells at the club, having first joined from Watsonians in 2002.
The South African initially spent three years at Old Deer Park before enjoying spells at Harlequins (where he helped the club back to the Premiership and the National Trophy), Bath, Toulon and London Scottish.
Ward returned to Welsh in 2009 and played a key role as the club reached two consecutive Championship semi-finals.
However Ward has now opted to move to ambitious National One side Rosslyn Park.
Opportunity
"London Welsh was some of the best years of my life," said Ward. "I've loved every minute of both spells at the club - they were obviously very different, one was part-time and one was professional, but I enjoyed them both equally.
"I just realised that at my age it was probably about time that I made the transition, while I can still play a bit of part-time rugby.
"At this stage I could probably still play Championship rugby, but the way the job market is and the opportunity that I've been given I had to do it now. I couldn't let it slip through my fingers."
Despite moving into the word of semi-professional rugby, Ward haven't ruled out returning to Old Deer Park - albeit with his new club, who are targeting promotion.
"That would be interesting, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it! I've got a couple of years left, maybe a few more than that," he said.
