Stanley signs for Northland

SCORE: The Northland Rugby Union has signed on the services of former Blues and Force centre-come-wing Winston Stanley for next year's ITM Cup. Stanley will play for the Highlanders in next year's Super 15 competition.PHOTO/FILE

As one hard-running centre leaves the Northland rugby set up, another has been confirmed for next year's ITM Cup, in the form of Winston Stanley.

The former Blues and Force Super Rugby player - who next year will play for the Highlanders - has been signed by the Northland Rugby Union (NRU) for next season as a straight replacement for Rene Ranger.

NRU chief executive Jeremy Parkinson reinforced that bringing in a player like 24-year-old Stanley was only because they believe he was clearly better than what is available.

"We always said we'd look to replace Rene [Ranger] when he left, and we believe Stanley is significantly better than what we've got in the province," Parkinson said.

"He's got good pedigree, he's come through the New Zealand age grade teams, [and] he's played Super Rugby - we're always up front that they [new signings] needed to be a higher calibre player, and time will tell."

Stanley, the nephew of former All Blacks midfielder Joe Stanley, is a former IRB world junior player of the year nominee and a former New Zealand under-20 representative.

He is also the younger brother of former All Black second-five Benson Stanley.

Having made his debut for the Blues in 2009, the 95kg centre-come-wing has gone on to be capped 26 times at Super Rugby level.

He played six times for the Blues and 20 for the Force across his two seasons with each team.

Parkinson also confirmed the hunt was on to secure a Super Rugby prop for next year's ITM Cup team.

"There is room in next year's budget to bring in a Super Rugby prop, because if your front row isn't upright it's pretty hard for your forward pack to operate," said Parkinson.