Featherstone miss out on Minga

Featherstone have been blocked from signing Toulouse winger Kuni Minga due to him falling just short of on-field requirements for a visa.

Minga, 24, has scored 53 tries in 45 appearances for the French club in the past two seasons, featuring in 73.7% of their matches – short of the 75% required to gain governing body endorsement for a visa from the RFL.

The Papua New Guinean, who was selected in the France squad for the World Cup, had agreed terms with Featherstone who now say the move is off.

Rovers general manager Davide Longo: “We are extremely disappointed at the RFL’s decision not to grant Kuni a GBE.

“Kuni is a player who has been on our radar for some time and when he became available we acted quickly to get a deal done.

“We believe Kuni would have been a revelation both for Featherstone and the Championship as a whole.

“But our efforts to bring another high-profile player, who we believe has the potential to become world class, have been thwarted.

“Kuni was very much looking forward to joining the club and challenging himself at the top of this division but we are now left with no choice but to walk away from the deal, which had been agreed in principal.”