Newcastle Falcons has announced the signing of Coventry prop James Hall.

The 23-year-old tight head joins in a one-year deal, having scored four tries in his 29 matches for the Championship side this season.

Falcons head coach Alan Tait said: "James is a quality young tight head who has been starting regularly for Coventry in the Championship, and will add to the competition that we have here for next season.

"He's very ambitious, and as well as his Championship rugby he's played for England Students last year. He's keen to learn, and at this stage the plan is that he will sit behind Kieran Brookes in the pecking order for tight head next season.

"Kieran is an outstanding prospect as I'm sure the fans saw from his run for Tim Swinson's try against Wasps last weekend, but we need to remember that he is still learning the game and we have to be sensible about what sort of work load we put on him in terms of starting games at this stage.

"With that in mind we're still talking to people about a tight head coming in next season as a more senior player for these lads to learn from, but with James' signing we've now got the sort of depth and quality that we know we need in that position.

"The fact that we also have Jon Golding, Grant Shiells and Micky Ward at the club leaves us in pretty good shape in the propping department, and that is a foundation on which we will look to build going into the new season."

ENDS