So’oialo set for Connacht debut

Connacht are about to unleash Samoan international James So’oialo this week against Zebre after finally cutting through months of red tape that held up his work permit.

The centre was selected to make his debut for Connacht against Saracens last Friday night — but had to leave the country during the week until his permit was sorted.

The 24-year old spent a couple of nights in an airport hotel in London before he could return to Galway later on Thursday night when the paperwork was finally sorted out. Connacht coach Pat Lam explained: “We followed all the rules. This is the biggest frustration. We signed James in May and he was booked to get here on July 4th. He was ready to go, he had a flight and then we had to wait for the permit. He missed pre-season and five Rabo games. We got him over here when we got notification his permit was being looked at. He was here for the Treviso game, we were about to play him but the permit was still held up.”

So’oialo was ready to start against Saracens before another issue arose.

Lam said: “He trained with us on Monday last week, we named the team for the Saracens game and then Tuesday at 4pm we were told he has to leave the country. He had to go to London and he sat in an airport hotel until he could get back into Galway when the permit came though. He got back on Thursday midnight. He was extremely frustrated to the point where he wondered is this ever going to come through and should he just move on.”