Huddersfield YMCA have signed Ritchie Hawkyard for the rest of their National III North rugby union campaign.

The 28-year-old Swinton Lions rugby league player is not available for Saturday’s trip to Rossendale but could well make his debut in the crunch home clash with derby rivals Cleckheaton at Laund Hill the following Saturday, October 11.

YMCA have also brought back prop James Watson, 31, from Heath as they look to move up from 12th in the 14-team table.

Director of rugby Damon Scholes said: “Titch (Hawkyard) used to play for me at Underbank, when we set up the summer section there, and while he hasn’t played rugby union before, we know what he is capable of and are delighted to have him on board.

“He’s played at Bradford Bulls, for Scotland and a good few years for Swinton in rugby league and he will give us some real cutting edge wherever he eventually plays in the back line.

“Titch has quality and experience and he will fit in well at our club. He came to watch us against Sale and was surprised with the quality of rugby we played, so he’s looking forward to it and will definitely give us more firepower.

“Chris Clarke (a former teammate of Hawkyard’s at Swinton) hadn’t played rugby union before this season, but he made a fantastic impact last week against Sale and if Titch does the same, then it can only be good news.

“There are some quality rugby league players out there who want to give union a go, and the beauty of it is they are local lads, which is what we are trying to promote.”

YMCA are boosted on Saturday by the return of skipper Ed Barber from a shoulder injury, and winger Lloyd Bentley will start if he gets the all-clear from a doctor after suffering a head injury in the 37-35 defeat against promotion favourites Sale.

“Many of our supporters said last week’s display against Sale was the best they had ever seen at Laund Hill,” added Scholes.

“In the first half we were awesome and we played some great rugby. To push a side like Sale so close was a great credit to all the lads and everyone in the club was proud of them.

“The challenge now is to keep that going, because there are no poor teams in our division. We’ve been coming to terms with the pace at this level, realising now that we can’t afford to switch off at any stage in the 80 minutes, and it would be nice to get some consistency in selection – we’ve used 30 players already – and a little bit of luck.

“The signings will definitely help to give us more strength in depth, and there could be more new faces in the pipeline.”

YMCA: Dyke (Stu), Hill, Moore, Bell, Housley, Lumb, Hodge, Whitehead, Wilson, Barber, Bullock, Van Rooyen, Ryder, Morton or Bentley, Stead. Bench: Wrafter, Murphy, Willans or Nightingale.