Newcastle hijack Saracens move for England-qualified Hoskins Sotutu
Saturday, 29 November 2025
Newcastle Red Bulls have pulled off the signing of the season by landing No 8 Hoskins Sotutu from the Blues.
In a significant coup to both the Prem and England, Sotutu will arrive at Kingston Park next season on a three-year deal, with Newcastle Red Bulls having beaten Saracens in the race to land the New Zealander’s signature.
Telegraph Sport understands the 27-year-old, who has 14 caps for the All Blacks, will arrive at Newcastle in either pre-season ahead of the 2026-27 season or in November next year after the culmination of New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship. Negotiations are ongoing between Red Bulls and the Blues in Auckland over the date of Sotutu’s exact release. It is understood he will not be the player who is exempt from the salary cap, previously known as “marquee”.
Outside the North East, the news of Sotutu’s arrival will also be warmly received by England head coach Steve Borthwick. The No 8 is English-qualified through his mother and has not represented New Zealand since coming off the bench in the 25-25 draw against England at Twickenham in November 2022.
Therefore, Sotutu will be eligible to play for either England or Fiji, whom his father Waisake played for at international level, having completed a three-year stand-down period.
The only box remaining for Sotutu to tick would be fulfilling the Rugby Football Union’s regulation that players wishing to be selected for England must be playing on these shores. The move to Newcastle, where he will remain until the 2027 World Cup and beyond, emphatically ticks that box. England have yet to select a player who has previously represented another nation at senior level in the modern era.
It is understood that the 6ft 4in, 17st 9lb loose forward recently informed officials in New Zealand of his intention to switch international allegiances from the All Blacks to England. Last year, Sotutu was voted Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year after a standout campaign in which he scored 12 tries. Borthwick will be pleased as Sotutu provides almost a like-for-like replacement for the departing Tom Willis, the Saracens No 8 who will be playing in Bordeaux next season.
Sotutu is not the first non-England born player to become available to Borthwick of late. Telegraph Sport revealed on Thursday how Benhard Janse van Rensburg, one of the Prem’s leading backs, would be available for England from the autumn of 2026 after a World Rugby regulations committee ruled that the Bristol centre could switch allegiances from South Africa.
Sotutu’s move to Newcastle, as reported by the Telegraph, means that Saracens are likely to concentrate their efforts on securing the signature of Leicester lock George Martin, who has agreed certain terms with the North London club.
A major statement of intent and more to come
It always felt as though a watershed moment would be required for the floodgates to open at Newcastle Red Bulls, and this might well be it.
For the time being, the recruiters up at Kingston Park have been badgering away in the background attempting to build a more competitive squad for next season. It is understood that Newcastle have licence to spend up to the limit of the salary cap next season and include an excluded player – if that does not sound too ridiculous. But having that ambition is one thing; convincing players to take the plunge en masse is another.
Bringing in Tom Christie, the highly rated Crusaders back-rower, this season was a respectable start, but it always felt as though a big name was required as a true statement of intent, to show prospective players and the other Prem clubs that Newcastle Red Bulls mean business; that they are the real deal.
The betting man would have expected that player to have been Joe Marchant. The England centre was looking for a move back to the Prem to fight for a spot in England’s squad for the 2027 World Cup and Marchant is currently engaged to Hollie Shearer, Alan’s daughter. The links to the North East are obvious.
But Telegraph Sport revealed this week how Marchant had instead opted for a different northern outpost in the Prem, that of Sale, on the outskirts of Manchester.
Whether Marchant was ever on the table for Newcastle is irrelevant. The Red Bulls have now found their big-signing. Hoskins Sotutu is an explosive ball-carrier – powerful, strong, dynamic – who has been tearing up trees in Super Rugby. Whether the No 8 is cut out for the off-the-ball rigours of Test rugby remains to be seen, but if anything Newcastle may well hope that he is not. A player who is outstanding at club level but cannot quite translate their excellence to the international stage, especially when English-qualified, is worth his weight in gold to a Prem club.
Sotutu has considerable weight, and that would be a considerable amount of gold. He will not turn Newcastle into world-beaters overnight but, as statements of intent go, it is a significant one. Rumour has it there is plenty more to come from the cheque book at Kingston Park. For now, watch this space.