Silly Season Transfer Rumours 16/17

First topic message reminder :

Gordon Reid is off to Irish.

king_carlos wrote:I
Annoyance from listening to suggestions that Joe coming to Welford Road might have been part of a deal with George - average

I was considering a crack about this.


MOC as DOR seems odd, and frankly a bit depressing. Good from a continuity perspective but not ideal given the blame hes shouldered fror the decline in teh academy and that his experience is largely as a coach rather than as a team builder and market wheeler dealer.

Rafael Ibanez to leave Bordeaux with at end of the season. Fell out with players over his commitments with French tv.

Bernard Jackman has left Grenoble.

Kerr-Barlow is leaving the Chiefs and NZ to France and La Rochelle. Can't blame him, it's a team on the up, in a beautiful city that is rugby mad and I bet he's earning a little more.

So Ricky January must be finally calling it a day!

Good riddance re Ibanez. With all respect you have to be around when your team is playing as opposed to prioritising TV punditry.

Another ex AB Frank Halai is rumoured to be leaving wasps for new powerhouse Pau.

Ibanez has always decent results at Bordeaux though? Got to admit it's a bit farcical to skip games to do punditry. 

Halai has dropped down the pecking order at Wasps. Not a surprise he's eying up leaving for a pay day.

Henson to NGD. Where's the fuss ?

munkian wrote:Henson to NGD. Where's the fuss ?

They'll be fuss when he can string a number f games together without being either injured or suspended (by his club for off field antics).

He is still a very capable player with a big boot. Past his prime though.

A reliable goal kicker if nothing else is a handy thing to have at their level.

Bath have signed Nathan Charles for 2017/18

formerly known as Sam wrote:

munkian wrote:Henson to NGD. Where's the fuss ?

They'll be fuss when he can string a number f games together without being either injured or suspended (by his club for off field antics).

He is still a very capable player with a big boot. Past his prime though.

He hasn't had any 'off field antics' for a long long time.

I don't see him out on the tiles in Newport either - we don't have any f*cking tiles

munkian wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

munkian wrote:Henson to NGD. Where's the fuss ?

They'll be fuss when he can string a number f games together without being either injured or suspended (by his club for off field antics).

He is still a very capable player with a big boot. Past his prime though.

He hasn't had any 'off field antics' for a long long time.

I don't see him out on the tiles in Newport either - we don't have any f*cking tiles

Having left Bath, Sarries and Toulon under various clouds he's been off the radar and on the physio bench down at Bristol. Still can offer a lot if he adapts his game a little and uses his big boot to manage the game. Very experienced player and helped Bristol beat Bath which will be much appreciated by the locals.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

munkian wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

munkian wrote:Henson to NGD. Where's the fuss ?

They'll be fuss when he can string a number f games together without being either injured or suspended (by his club for off field antics).

He is still a very capable player with a big boot. Past his prime though.

He hasn't had any 'off field antics' for a long long time.

I don't see him out on the tiles in Newport either - we don't have any f*cking tiles

Having left Bath, Sarries and Toulon under various clouds he's been off the radar and on the physio bench down at Bristol. Still can offer a lot if he adapts his game a little and uses his big boot to manage the game. Very experienced player and helped Bristol beat Bath which will be much appreciated by the locals.

A wasted talent, he still has the odd run where he just glides through defenses.

Exeter sign Nic White

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Exeter sign Nic White

Excellent signing by Baxter.

Even with Will Chudley such a consistent performer scrum-half is an area which many have felt that Chiefs could improve.

With Chudley and Dave Lewis injured they've already have academy grads Townsend and Maunder step up. Now they've added a step up in quality for next season.

Good signing. Can't see them keeping Matawalu for next season so that frees up some space and Dave Lewis is off to Quins. Experienced quality in Chudley and White backed up by the academy boys.

If Melbourne Rebels get chucked out of Super Rugby, then Geoff Parling's move to Australia will fall through.

If Exeter feel sorted on that front, then he'll need to find another berth.

Parling to Tigers is going around. Heard the rebels thing is rubbish.

But who knows in this day and age.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Good signing. Can't see them keeping Matawalu for next season so that frees up some space and Dave Lewis is off to Quins. Experienced quality in Chudley and White backed up by the academy boys.

Matawalu still has a sexual assault charge hanging over him, doesn't he? So one way or the other he probably wont be playing for Exeter.

Faletau to Bristol.

Welly wrote: Parling to Tigers is going around. Heard the rebels thing is rubbish.

But who knows in this day and age.

I like Parling as a player and a character off the field but that would be a complete waste of money. We have the four first team locks signed up for next season with Wells (I presume under contract as well) and Williams also available. We certainly don't need more additions in the second row. He's also not the type of coach we need, we need someone with coaching experience to take the players to task a little. We've got experienced players stepping into coaching already.

I would have Parling ahead of Kitchener and Fitzgerald on current form though. Hell he destroyed us on Friday at the lineout and mauls.

Not 100% sure Wells is in contract next season, and would rather Williams kept at 6.

He might be coming in as Academy coach/Player also.

Welly wrote: I would have Parling ahead of Kitchener and Fitzgerald on current form though. Hell he destroyed us on Friday at the lineout and mauls.

Not 100% sure Wells is in contract next season, and would rather Williams kept at 6.

He might be coming in as Academy coach/Player also.

He took our lineout apart right up to where he got binned for frequent infringements. Kitch was also not fit for that game. Fitzgerald is useless at the lineout but we've signed him up again. How much salary do we need to pay out in locks. There are more pressing needs in the squad.

As I said above we have a number of former players kicking around doing coaching stuff. Don't need another one unless he's considerably more experienced. The Deacon boys are currently both coaching.

I agree with what you are saying about Parling in relation to former players already coaching at Tigers and needing someone with some experience fkaS but you do get the feeling that one day Parling will make a good coach if he chooses to follow that path. Kind of like Borthwick, you always felt he would become a good coach.

I'd be happy with Parling at Saints for a year or 2 if the price was right. Take some workload off Day and vastly superior to Paterson or Craig.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Welly wrote: I would have Parling ahead of Kitchener and Fitzgerald on current form though. Hell he destroyed us on Friday at the lineout and mauls.

Not 100% sure Wells is in contract next season, and would rather Williams kept at 6.

He might be coming in as Academy coach/Player also.

He took our lineout apart right up to where he got binned for frequent infringements. Kitch was also not fit for that game. Fitzgerald is useless at the lineout but we've signed him up again. How much salary do we need to pay out in locks. There are more pressing needs in the squad.

As I said above we have a number of former players kicking around doing coaching stuff. Don't need another one unless he's considerably more experienced. The Deacon boys are currently both coaching.

One is coaching for us, the other at Birmingham. Don't see why paring couldn't do academy coaching stuff he has been helping out at Hartbury and others clubs whilst playing for Exe.

Currently we have no academy forwards coach.

It's not just lineout it is maul work aswell, none of our players can defend a maul it seems judging by the last two seasons, where our maul defence went from amazing to crap in just like that. And I'm sick of seeing our maul getting pushed back in attack and defence. Croft is the only player we have in the whole forwards scrum that can dismantle a maul so far.

I think Parling will become a very good coach in the future. If he wants to sign as a coach then I'm good with that. I'm just not happy about axing a chunk out of our budget to accommodate an injury prone player in a position we are well stocked.

Brett Deacon is the academy forwards coach, he's just combining that with the defence coach role with the frat team until the end of the season.

I share the annoyance with our lineout defence. It's only made worse by Fitzgerald's inability to learn that letting the opposition win the ball unopposed in your 22 at every lineout is a bad idea. Kitchener's return from injury might help that and if we can get Croft back in the side and jumping he can also be a menace. We've seen Hamilton and Croft make a mess of the opposition's lineout. We have the ability.

Defending the maul is a coachable skill. An experienced forwards coach/DOR that simply must be on our shopping list this summer. Our forwards have been badly inderperforming for some time.

Matt O'Connor is prob the DOR

That is my current reoccurring nightmare. He's accomplished little since he left and was allegedly responsible for driving away young players and local hero's. Only Jake White would be worse.

Sounds like Joe Worsley is leaving Bordeaux along with Ibanez.

Reports from over there are that he's been very well regarded for them as a coach with both the forwards and defence.

Have Wasps replaced Dan Richmond yet? If not then Watermelon would be a good fit at his old club.

munkian wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

munkian wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

munkian wrote:Henson to NGD. Where's the fuss ?

They'll be fuss when he can string a number f games together without being either injured or suspended (by his club for off field antics).

He is still a very capable player with a big boot. Past his prime though.

He hasn't had any 'off field antics' for a long long time.

I don't see him out on the tiles in Newport either - we don't have any f*cking tiles

Having left Bath, Sarries and Toulon under various clouds he's been off the radar and on the physio bench down at Bristol. Still can offer a lot if he adapts his game a little and uses his big boot to manage the game. Very experienced player and helped Bristol beat Bath which will be much appreciated by the locals.

A wasted talent, he still has the odd run where he just glides through defenses.

Don't forget he left Cardiff Blues under a cloud too.

Is he on a pay to play deal?

king_carlos wrote:Sounds like Joe Worsley is leaving Bordeaux along with Ibanez.

Reports from over there are that he's been very well regarded for them as a coach with both the forwards and defence.

Have Wasps replaced Dan Richmond yet? If not then Watermelon would be a good fit at his old club.

He's developed a good reputation in France as a coach. I suspect there'll be a few teams looking at him if he decides he wants to come back to England. I think Wasps have still got Phil Blake as defence coach.

Lions head coach Ackermann the man who masterminded their excellent run to the Super 16 final has been offered the job at Gloucster recently vacated by Laurie Fisher.

Any news on Bernard Jackman now he's available? Would tigers be interested?

Id have Joe Worsley at Quins

carpet baboon wrote:Any news on Bernard Jackman now he's available? Would tigers be interested?

Probably not. Grenoble haven't exactly flourished under him and look set for relegation unless there's a reprieve due to the Paris merger. There's some murmurings an Irish man has been interviewed though the rumour mill is vague at the minute. 

Worsley at Quins would be a good fit PD. I though he might go to Glaws where his old mate Phil Vickery is involved  (off the field somewhere).

formerly known as Sam wrote:

king_carlos wrote:Sounds like Joe Worsley is leaving Bordeaux along with Ibanez.

Reports from over there are that he's been very well regarded for them as a coach with both the forwards and defence.

Have Wasps replaced Dan Richmond yet? If not then Watermelon would be a good fit at his old club.

He's developed a good reputation in France as a coach. I suspect there'll be a few teams looking at him if he decides he wants to come back to England. I think Wasps have still got Phil Blake as defence coach.

Lions head coach Ackermann the man who masterminded their excellent run to the Super 16 final has been offered the job at Gloucster recently vacated by Laurie Fisher.

best coach at UBB. really helped in setting up our defense system. big loss if that's true.

Apparently Gloucs are going to be bringing in Philippe Saint-Andre as DOR, Gonzalo Quesada as coach and Olivier Azam as forwards coach.

That's a big raft of changes behind the scene. Makes sense though with Humphreys failing to rebuild and his head coach walking out.

Saints confirmed Piers Francis.

king_carlos wrote:Apparently Gloucs are going to be bringing in Philippe Saint-Andre as DOR, Gonzalo Quesada as coach and Olivier Azam as forwards coach.

That's according to Midi Olympique, probably the most unreliable source of news. It is far more likely that Johan Ackerman will be the new head coach. He has openly admitted he has been approached by Glaws and that he is considering the offer; he also feels now is the perfect time to take charge of the side where clear improvement can be made.

MO have also stated the Altrad deal has been ratified with him buying 45%, however, as the PRL have not yet met to ratify this and it must be an unanimous vote I can't see how this can be confirmed yet either. Either way, I just hope this is concluded as soon as possible, as bar c.9 months we've been in a state of limbo re ownership for the last 3 years.

I thought Ackermann was publicly placing himself on the market in that press conference. By admitting he's considering the offer he's signalling his availability. There's a few clubs looking and his reputation has shot up. With the current political situation in SA there's little chance he'll get a chance with the Boks.

Mike Ford is going back home since Toulon hired Galthie and Landreau for next season.

Maybe Cockers will need a defence coach at Edinburgh?

Morahan joins Bristol for next season.

Matt O'Connor to takeover as Tigers head coach 

HongKongCherry wrote:

king_carlos wrote:Apparently Gloucs are going to be bringing in Philippe Saint-Andre as DOR, Gonzalo Quesada as coach and Olivier Azam as forwards coach.

That's according to Midi Olympique, probably the most unreliable source of news.  It is far more likely that Johan Ackerman will be the new head coach.  He has openly admitted he has been approached by Glaws and that he is considering the offer; he also feels now is the perfect time to take charge of the side where clear improvement can be made.

MO have also stated the Altrad deal has been ratified with him buying 45%, however, as the PRL have not yet met to ratify this and it must be an unanimous vote I can't see how this can be confirmed yet either.  Either way, I just hope this is concluded as soon as possible, as bar c.9 months we've been in a state of limbo re ownership for the last 3 years.

Ackermann also rejected saints becuase he wanted the DOR role not the head coach role so there is that.

Toby Flood coming back is doing the rounds again and this time seems more definite!
31...could be what we need...and get rid of that god awful Delayney!

Apparently we are announcing 2 new signings on Wednesday and 2 contract renewals!

I'd be very happy with Flood, cracking AP flyhalf.

Agree Sgt

I think Hodgson has consistency problems since he's come back. Some games he has been hugely impressive and yet in others he's dropped clangers and not been great.

Flood would hopefully bring some consistency and use our backs well....

9 Takulua
10 Flood
11 Sinoti
12 Socino / Matavesi
13 Mermoz
14 Goneva
15 Tait

Now THATS a backline!!!

Hammersley in for Tait?

If you sign Matavesi Jnr, Matavesi, Flood and retain Hodgson does that mean Willis is off? A lot of players capable of playing 10 otherwise. I presume the useless Delaney is off anyway (knowing MOC's signing style he'll probably end up at Tigers).

Ah that's a tough one Sam.

Hammersley is a class act, but you know what....so is Alex Tait. Tait is physical, tough, has decent pace and reliable. We're lucky to have two good full backs of contrasting styles.

We have Willis AND Connon coming through.

Hpefully Delayney is on his way. The guy is utterly woeful and on a hefty salary I would imagine! Get shot of him !

And I forgot DTH van der Merve aswell....

Jeez we've signed some backs!

And Matavesi Jr will be out on loan I would suspect. He wont get many starts I wouldn't think.

But it is a concern about what will happen to Willis and Conon. Conon being an irish U20 squad member might fancy heading back across the water...

Conon is a bit younger isn't he? Might be happier to hang around and gain experience than Willis who has got game time in the AP already and might get better offers than third choice.

Good looking back division for Falcons, exactly what's needed on the plastic pitch.