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ESPN staff
Wallabies legend Matt Giteau has denied any reports he has signed with Los Angeles-based Major League Rugby team LA Giltinis.
Speaking on the Tight Five podcast, Giteau dismissed reports from The Sydney Morning Herald that he was the latest high profile rugby player eyeing a move to the U.S. league.
“I got wind of that this morning actually,” Giteau said. “Another parent from school dropped his kid off because there was a party and he says ‘I hear you’re going to LA’.
“I said what? He said ‘it’s in the papers’.
“I’ve checked the papers this morning and it sounds like I’m signed, sealed and delivered. I think it’s just paper, well, I know it’s just paper talk.
“I haven’t really discussed contracts or pushed seriously with anything since I finished in Japan. The big focus was just coming back, homeschooling, getting settled back in Canberra.
“I see this morning that I’m going to LA. Unless my agent’s done something that I don’t know about. I think it’s just paper talk.”
Friend and former teammate Stephen Hoiles was announced as the side’s assistant coach last month, while experienced Shute Shield and Japanese Top League mentor Darren Coleman was named head coach.
While he distanced himself from the Herald report, Giteau didn’t rule out pursuing one final stint in the USA.
“I haven’t thought about actually going to America but I think the way my last season in Japan finished, it just left a bit of an empty feeling.
“I would have preferred to play a full season out, being my last year. That’s probably the only thing at the moment that [suggests] I’m not 100 percent done with rugby.”
Giteau’s former teammates and good friends Adam Ashley-Cooper and Drew Mitchell were also reported to be joining the new competition, with the Herald reporting Mitchell had signed with a New York-based franchise, while Ashley-Cooper was said to be joining Giteau in LA.