Hurricanes apparently looking at signing Japan lock Warner Dearns for a year, effectively on a sabbatical. Bit of a weird one this, especially as the Hurricanes are unlikely to be able to compete on price with Toshiba, particularly for a non-NZ qualified player.
Could be for development reasons, but if I had to guess it's a way of sidestepping the new JRLO eligibility restrictions - Warner is 9 tests away from having the 30 required for the new exception, an amount he might struggle to reach before the next season kicks off but should absolutely have by the one after.
Just to complicate it a bit further there is also talk of Harada, the Toshiba hooker doing the same at Moana, but I can't see that being for eligibility reasons (or money). Not exactly the strongest choice for development outcomes either, but it might be that the style is suited to what they want out of him.