Canterbury Rugby Club announced three key signings as they continue their summer build up to the new season.

Bolstering the pack will be prop forward Tom McArthur and flanker Peter Kelly, while former Mounts Bay and Cornwall full-back Ollie Faulkner also joins a talented homegrown squad.

Twenty-six-year-old McArthur and Kelly, both of whom have Irish connections, have been playing Premier Grade rugby in Australia this summer. McArthur, who weighs in at 18 stone, can play on both sides of the front row and has National League experience with northern side Halifax . The versatile Kelly, 25, is happy in either openside or blindside flank positions.

The city club has seen at first-hand the quality of Ollie Faulkner in his appearances against them for Penzance outfit Mounts Bay.

The 26-year-old has made four appearances for Cornwall and, apart from four years at university in Gloucester, has been a one-club man.

The latest arrivals will not be the last of Canterbury’s acquisitions this summer as they hope to unveil a new fly-half in the next few weeks.