Skivington extends Exiles stay

London Irish revealed that second row forward George Skivington has extended his contract with the club for a further season.

Skivington, who joined the club in June 2012 from Leicester Tigers, has signed a new deal that will keep him at the Exiles until the end of the 2015/16 season.

Standing 6'6' and weighing over 18 stones, the imposing 30-year-old lock has brought plenty of physicality to the London Irish pack this season and has been involved on 18 occassions scoring three tries.

London Irish Director of Rugby, Brian Smith said: "George Skivington has been enormous for us this season. He's had a huge impact in many of our big wins leading from the front and setting a great example for the rest of the pack. George has made a huge contribution off the pitch as well, always the consummate professional, he's a player the boys are happy to go into battle with. His commitment to the club for the next three seasons gives us another key player to build our new team around."

Commenting on his extension, Skivington said: "It has been a challenging first season at the Club, but with so much change in the playing and coaching staff over the summer it was always going to be initially quite tough. We have really turned a corner in 2013 with the squad starting to gel well together. There are a lot of great players at the Club and the important thing is that the majority of the starting side in recent weeks will be at the Club for the forseeable future which is a real positive moving forward."

Skivington captained the England Saxons for two seasons and guided his side to victory in the 2010 Churchill Cup. He joined Irish from Leicester Tigers where he has made 51 appearances over two seasons. Prior to this he spent eight seasons at London Wasps where he won both the Heineken Cup and Premiership titles whilst making 125 appearances. Born in Warrington, Cheshire, he attended Wimbledon College and John Fisher School, before joining the Saracens Academy.