Super Rugby veteran Murphy Taramai has joined the Glendale Raptors roster for the remainder of the Major League Rugby season. The 26-year-old loose forward arrives from New Zealand to take up an immediate spot in the Raptors lineup for their match against the Houston SaberCats on Saturday.

A rugby league player during his high school years in Upper Hutt, Taramai had a brief trial with the Penrith Panthers before turning to rugby union with Wellington. He was quickly snapped up by Gordon Tietjens for the New Zealand Sevens side, appearing in four HSBC Sevens Series events.

In 2016 he switched his focus to the 15-a-side game and started 12 games as a No8 for North Harbour in the Mitre 10 Cup. That earned him a two-year Super Rugby deal with the Blues where he was largely used as an openside flanker. Most recently he spent his third campaign with Harbour, spilling his time between the two positions.

Taramai will start his Raptors career at the back of the scrum and joins a potent loose forward stable that already includes USA internationals Hanco Germishuys, Peter Dahl, and Malon Al-Jiboori. Anothter Eagles cap, Brendan Daly, has been used as both a lock and blindside flanker and could see more time in the second row as a result.