Rugby: Sivivatu deal confirmed

Sitiveni Sivivatu. Photo / Getty Images

Clermont have today confirmed All Blacks winger Sitiveni Sivivatu will join the French rugby champions for three seasons after this year's World Cup.

Sivivatu becomes the latest in a long line of leading foreign players to sign up for France's cash-rich Top 14. He joins countrymen Sione Lauaki, Ti'i Paulo, Tasesa Lavea and Kevin Senio ant a club coached by former Bay of Plenty and Crusaders coach Vern Cotter.

Confirmation of the three-year deal comes seven days after John Afoa announced his post-World Cup departure, with the All Blacks prop headed for Ulster.

"We are very happy to have found an agreement with Sitiveni so quickly," Clermont sporting director Jean Marc Lhermet said in a statement.

"He is a player who is already practically known to all and who at just 28, still has a real appetite for victories and trophies."

The Chiefs flyer has played 43 tests for New Zealand since his debut in 2005.

- NZPA