Rory Clegg: Glasgow Warriors sign fly-half from Newcastle

Rory Clegg spent two years with Newcastle, having turned professional with them earlier in his career

Glasgow Warriors have signed fly-half Rory Clegg from Newcastle Falcons on a short-term deal.

Clegg, 25, has had two spells with Newcastle and featured for Harlequins between 2009 and 2013.

His contract with the Pro12 winners runs for the duration of the World Cup and Glasgow have also brought in three club rugby players for the same period.

George Hunter, Gary Strain and Steven Findlay all boost head coach Gregor Townsend's ranks.

Clegg, who has represented England Saxons Under-20s, said: "I'm looking forward to moving to Glasgow at the end of the month to start pre-season training.

Gregor Hunter playing for Glasgow Warriors A last year

"This is a great chance for me to join the Pro12 champions and play at a high level during the Rugby World Cup.

"It's an exciting time to join the club as they begin the defence of their title."

Loose-head Hunter has been part of Glasgow's development programme and played with Ayr last season while fellow props Strain and Findlay were with Glasgow Hawks last term.

And Townsend said: "We're continuing to work hard to recruit players for the new season and we're delighted to welcome Rory, George, Gary and Steven on board.

"Rory is an experienced midfielder, having played more than 100 games during his time with Harelquins and Newcastle Falcons.

"It's great to be able to add him to our squad for the start of the season.

"He played very well at stand-off at the end of last season for Newcastle and he is a quality fly-half who has the physicality and rugby ability to also play elsewhere in the back line.

"George, Gary and Steven also join us on short-term deals and they will have an opportunity to compete for places in the front-row at the start of the season.

"All three have been training with us over the last few weeks and put in a huge amount of effort, and have shown a number of improvements already. We're expecting further progress when we return for the second block of our pre-season training in the last week of July."

The World Cup runs from 18 September to 31 October.