MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Former New Zealand winger George Bridge has signed a two-year deal with Western Force and will return to Super Rugby next season, ending a three-year stint in French rugby.
Bridge scored 12 tries in 19 tests for the All Blacks and played in the 2019 World Cup in Japan before heading abroad to play for Top 14 side Montpellier in 2022.
The 30-year-old will replace Wallabies winger Harry Potter who left the Perth-based Force to join the New South Wales Waratahs.
Bridge, who can also play fullback, was part of Scott Robertson's powerful Canterbury Crusaders from 2017-22, helping the South Island team win four Super Rugby titles and the domestic Super Rugby Aotearoa championship twice.
"George is well known to a number of people on our staff and they can't speak highly enough of his professionalism, approach to the game and his rugby knowledge," Force coach Simon Cron said in a statement on Tuesday.
"He's got a massive left foot kick. He can play multiple positions. He's a brilliant player. An amazing talent. He'll add to the guys that we have in the squad."
The Force, who have never made the playoffs in any variant of Super Rugby since joining in 2006, managed only four wins last season and finished ninth in the 11-team competition.
Bridge's former team, the Crusaders, won a record-extending 15th Super Rugby title.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
