Transfers 2014/2015 Continued

First topic message reminder :

Well silly season is almost upon us so thought I would keep tabs on the comings and goings.  Will put the confirmed transfers, unconfirmed transfers (rumours) and out of contract players into various columns.  Please post any news or rumours and I will keep the original post updated.

Confirmed
Jon Davies (Scarlets) to Clermont
Regan King (Clermont) to Scarlets
Ian Evans (Ospreys) to Toulon
John Afoa (Ulster) to Gloucester
Rory Kockott (Castres) to Toulon (reportedly trying to cancel deal to stay at Castres)
Richard Hibbard (Ospreys) to Gloucester
Mamuka Gorgodze (Montpellier) to Toulon
Sebastien Vahaamahina (Perpignan) to Clermont
Guilhem Guirado (Perpignan) to Toulon
Robin Copeland (Blues) to Munster
Armitev (Northampton) to Russia (unconfirmed club)
Qera (Gloucester) to Toulouse
Casey Laulala (Munster to France (Club unconfirmed but thought to be Racing Metro)
Tom Court (Ulster) to London Irish
Andre Pretorius (Blues) to Worcester
Zac Guildford (New Zealand) to Clermont
Sivivatu (Clermont) to Castres
Aled Brew (Biarritz) to Dragons
Lee Byrne (Clermont) to Dragons
Dwayne Peel (Sale) to Bristol
Thomas Waldrom (Leicester) to Exeter
Dan Evans (Dragons) to Ospreys
Ieuan Jones (Dragons) to Blues
Jean-Philippe Genevois (Biarritz) to Perpignan
Benoit Cabello (Clermont) to Perpignan
Sakiusa Matadigo (Racing) to Perpignan
Jonathan Wisniewski (Racing) to Grenoble
Leigh Halfpenny (Blues) to Toulon
Josh Turnbull (Scarlets) to Blues
Nick Abendanon (Bath) to Clermont
Anthony Perenise (Bath) to Bristol
Craig Mitchell (Exeter) to Blues
Hoani Tui (Exeter) to Lyon
Tavis Knoyle (Gloucester) to Blues
Marland Yarde (London Irish) to Harlequins
Neil Cochrane (Wasps) to Edinburgh
Henry Thomas (Sale) to Bath
Josh Matavesi (Worcester) to Ospreys
Nick Auterac (Saracens) to Bath
Boris Stankovich (Leicester) to Dragons
Bradley Davies (Blues) to London Wasps
Moray Low (Glasgow) to Exeter
Chris Cussiter (Glasgow) to Sale
Matt Stevens (Saracens) to Sharks
Sam Smith (Harlequins) to Worcester
James Gaskell (Sale) to Wasps
Eoin Griffin (Connacht) to London Irish
Sam Burgess (Rugby League) to Bath
Adam Hughes (Dragons) to Bristol
Sam Parry (Dragons) to Ospreys
Joe Rees (Ospreys) to Worcester
Ian Nagle (Munster) to Newcastle
Tom Guest (Halrequins) to London Irish
Luke Narraway (Perpignan) to London Irish
Freddie Burns (Gloucester) to Leicester
Matthew Morgan (Ospreys) to Bristol
Jim Hamilton (Montpellier) to Saracens
Toby Flood (Leicester) to Toulouse
Lote Tuquiri (Leinster) to NPC
Johnnie Beattie (Montpellier) to Castres
Ryan Jones (Ospreys) to Bristol
Greg Laidlaw (Edinburgh) to Gloucester
Brice Dulin (Castres) to Racing Metro
Antonie Claassen (Castres) to Racing Metro
Gio Aplon (South Africa) to Grenoble
Leonardo Ghiraldini (Treviso) to Leicester
Robert Barbieri (Treviso) to Leicester
Loamanu (Treviso) to Leicester
Rob Hawkins (Leicester) to Newcastle
Ian Gough (London Irish) to Dragons



Unconfirmed
Michele Rizzo (Treviso) to Leicester



Out of Contract
Adam Jones (Ospreys) - Looks like he is signing for Ospreys/WRU as indicated in press
Keith Earls (Munster)
Daniel Bowden (Leicester)
Scott Hamilton (Leicester)



Retiring
Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster)
Andrew Sheridan (Toulon - unconfirmed)
Steve Borthwick (Saracens)
Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
Sebastien Bruno (Toulon)
George Chuter (Leicester) moving to Worcester coaching
Johann Muller (Ulster)
Mike Tindall (Gloucester - unconfirmed)
Will James (Gloucester)

Robinson is a strange buy for the Scarlets. Robinson's form has dropped over the past 12 months. They probably need some more depth on the wing having lost Stoddard, Lamont and North in recent seasons. But they already have Phillips, who has improved this season and Jordan, who are both similar players to Robinson. They could really have done with a big bruiser to mix it up a bit.

Does any one want Nick Kennedy and Paul Doran-Jones? We will literally give them both away...

Nah, Yappy. We're good. I'm sure they'll come good eventually... or a French club will be suckered into signing them.

yappysnap wrote:Does any one want Nick Kennedy and Paul Doran-Jones? We will literally give them both away...

I remember the RTE panel raging that we didn't cap this fella after he represented Ireland u20's. Looks like we dodged a bullet.

Leinster you definitely did, can't think of a worse prop out there at the moment.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Nah, Yappy. We're good. I'm sure they'll come good eventually... or a French club will be suckered into signing them.

Sadly it looks like we're the suckers, only gone and given them two year deals. Their agents are genius.

Kennedy had a great season for Toulon so cannot blame Quins for falling for that one. PDJ is another issue altogether, however. Hasn't ever had a good season.

Ryan Jones to Bristol finally confirmed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26717035

Bathite wrote:Ryan Jones to Bristol finally confirmed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26717035

Interesting list of newcomers to Brizzel:

Ross Rennie and Stuart McInally - Scotland and Edinburgh forwards
Ryan Jones - Wales and Ospreys forward
Anthony Perenise - Samoa and Bath prop
Dwayne Peel - Wales and Sale scrum-half
David Lemi - Samoa and Worcester wing
Matthew Morgan - Ospreys fly-half
Jack O'Connell - Leinster prop
Darren Hudson - Leinster winger
Max Crumpton - Harlequins hooker
Jack Lam - Samoa and Hurricanes back
Craig Hampson - Leeds scrum-half

Thought Rennie was only a loan though? Is it confirmed as permanent?

Bathite wrote:Thought Rennie was only a loan though? Is it confirmed as permanent?

Both are loans (Rennie and McInally), but strong rumours that Rennie is not going to be offered a new contract at Edinburgh and will stay. I'd be surprised if anything signed prior to confirmation of promotion though.

Aled Thomas has been confirmed to Gloucester from Scarlet's. He has been a good safe option for us all season (saturday aside), descent signing their for the Scarlet's

Also why has Doran Jones and Kennedy not been playing well, i have seen both have been left out of the starting fifteen but i don't see why. Are they both in bad form then

Edinburgh must have some great 7s if they don't want Rennie anymore (though of course its possible Bristol just offered more than he/they could refuse) - he has been outstanding, probably the difference in most games he's played for us. Admittedly the level in the Championship isn't high, but still, he has looked great. Most Bristol fans would love it if he stayed.

Nice to see a couple of younger players amongst the Bristol signings, wouldn't want it to be just old timers looking for a retirement package but not good enough for a French club. That said, Peel (who, as an England fan, I think is still good enough to be playing for Wales btw) is definitely there to do some coaching work as well as playing, I wonder if a similar thing is the case with Ryan Jones? Nothing mentioned anywhere/ not heard anything but I wouldn't be surprised.

Rennie is Scotland's most talented openside since Finlay Calder - he's just been crippled by injuries for the majority of his professional life. In games where he has been fit (outplaying David Pocock in Scotland's win over Australia in June 2012, for example), he is properly world class. And I don't say that about many (or indeed, any) Scottish players.

The issue with Edinburgh is that Alan Solomons likes his loose forwards bigger than Rennie (he admitted it) and he already has his favourites. Andy Robinson, on the other hand, has coached Rennie since he was a boy and jumped at the chance to rehab him down in Bristol. You can bet your backside Robinson will try everything to keep him.

It has certainly been suggested down here that Robinson will be using his connections north of the border to grab a few good players, and if anyone knows a good openside it will be him. Not good for Scottish rugby though I think.

Grenoble signed 31 years old Stormers winger Gio Aplon.

Jhamer25 wrote:Aled Thomas has been confirmed to Gloucester from Scarlet's. He has been a good safe option for us all season (saturday aside), descent signing their for the Scarlet's

Also why has Doran Jones and Kennedy not been playing well, i have seen both have been left out of the starting fifteen but i don't see why. Are they both in bad form then

Kennedy to be fair is just coming back from an injury and didn't get much of a pre season with the team to practice, he's also suffering from being too similar to his lock partner Robson. Both are willowy technical lineout locks.

PDJ on the other hand was fairly rubbish for Saints and had already fallen to third on the pecking order there when we signed him. I think we only got him as a panic buy when JJ left but he's not raised his game since, coasts through matches and is regularly out performed by our 20 year old academy lad.

whocares wrote:Grenoble signed 31 years old Stormers winger Gio Aplon.

Man I thought Aplon was about 22!

George Carlin wrote:

Bathite wrote:Ryan Jones to Bristol finally confirmed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26717035

Interesting list of newcomers to Brizzel:

Ross Rennie and Stuart McInally - Scotland and Edinburgh forwards
Ryan Jones - Wales and Ospreys forward
Anthony Perenise - Samoa and Bath prop
Dwayne Peel - Wales and Sale scrum-half
David Lemi - Samoa and Worcester wing
Matthew Morgan - Ospreys fly-half
Jack O'Connell - Leinster prop
Darren Hudson - Leinster winger
Max Crumpton - Harlequins hooker
Jack Lam - Samoa and Hurricanes back
Craig Hampson - Leeds scrum-half

Lots of local talent a bit like Newcastle years ago. Not sure they will get promoted as many of the signings can't help promotion.

Loamanu been granted visa, Sounds like Bowden likely to leave raise some cap for Goneva to stay.

Glos have signed mark Atkinson from Bedford

Talk of Gary Gold taking over from Nigel Davies at Glaws in the Rugby Paper

Gold still lives in Bath, so could happen. With those front row signings, he could turn their pack into something formidable for next year

I reckon if gold comes it will be as a DOR and Davies will be HC.

 Gold recruitment is top notch.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Talk of Gary Gold taking over from Nigel Davies at Glaws in the Rugby Paper

Not Dean Richards then?

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Talk of Gary Gold taking over from Nigel Davies at Glaws in the Rugby Paper

Not Dean Richards then?

 
No...Glos are over...i mean AT the salary cap....oh no thats Worcester..  

Haha, I did like the Gloucester response.

"We haven't approached Dean Richards and we never would"

Geoff Cross to London Irish confirmed ....

Jhamer25 wrote:Aled Thomas has been confirmed to Gloucester from Scarlet's. He has been a good safe option for us all season (saturday aside), descent signing their for the Scarlet's

Also why has Doran Jones and Kennedy not been playing well, i have seen both have been left out of the starting fifteen but i don't see why. Are they both in bad form then

Bad form doesn't quite go far enough to describe PDJ this season

Has PDJ ever had a good stint of Form?

I think Haskell can confirm if he's ever put in a good performance?

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Talk of Gary Gold taking over from Nigel Davies at Glaws in the Rugby Paper

I wouldn't read anything in to that. The board have been very public about their support of ND and given the squad he inherited it was always going to be year 3 where he was truly judged, i.e. next season. I think in this instance Neil Fissler was making rather large assumptions based on the Richards approach, which has been confirmed had nothing to do with Glaws. If we are going to replace ND to be honest I'd hope we'd be looking at different people to Gold and Richards.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Has PDJ ever had a good stint of Form?

In his final season at Glaws he was excellent and Yoda's departure wasn't really noticed. Since then he's had injury after injury stopping him building any kind of form. He was probably guilty of thinking he was better than he was when he went to Saints.

Chris Whitehead forced to retire with immediate effect due to a degenerative neck injury - v sad for the lad, has played a big part in our 4 seasons in the top flight. So we'll now be in the market for another hooker too, I would have thought

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Chris Whitehead forced to retire with immediate effect due to a degenerative neck injury - v sad for the lad, has played a big part in our 4 seasons in the top flight.  So we'll now be in the market for another hooker too, I would have thought

That's a real shame, he was a hugely underrated player. He had a huge season for you in your 1st season in the Jeff.

Ian Humphreys from London Irish to Ulster strongly rumoured.

George Carlin wrote:

Bathite wrote:Ryan Jones to Bristol finally confirmed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26717035

Interesting list of newcomers to Brizzel:

Ross Rennie and Stuart McInally - Scotland and Edinburgh forwards
Ryan Jones - Wales and Ospreys forward
Anthony Perenise - Samoa and Bath prop
Dwayne Peel - Wales and Sale scrum-half
David Lemi - Samoa and Worcester wing
Matthew Morgan - Ospreys fly-half
Jack O'Connell - Leinster prop
Darren Hudson - Leinster winger
Max Crumpton - Harlequins hooker
Jack Lam - Samoa and Hurricanes back
Craig Hampson - Leeds scrum-half

Jack O'Connell is a good prospect at loosehead. He won't get the chance to develop much through gametime with Jack McGrath and Cian Healy in front of him at Leinster but he has handled every step up till now quite well.

Hudson is a decent winger, think along the lines of Niall Morris over at Tigers.

TBH, someone should be teasing out backrow talent at Leinster, there is a development backlog there of some potentially great prospects, Gilsenan, Leavy, Conan, Marshall all might need to find new pastures in order to get game time and develop.

Artful_Dodger wrote:Ian Humphreys from London Irish to Ulster strongly rumoured.

That's a done deal.

He left partly because he didn't want to play second fiddle to Paddy Jackson. Now he's coming back and he'll definitely be playing second fiddle to Paddy Jackson.

I'm very happy, I was disappointed when he left- although Jackson will be many times the player he is and is already better, we seriously could use him to over injuries and play during international windows. If Jackson is injured there is no-one in the squad I would trust to cover 10 so Humphreys coming back really helps us out.

I just don't understand why the change of heart.

Notch the difference was he was only guaranteed 1 year as second fiddle to PJ.

Irish offered him an extended contract - I believe it was the lack of security 1 year implied rather than being second fiddle.
He will probably get 2 years this time.

The reason for the change in attitude by Ulster is the alternatives - NOC and McKinney have failed to deliver.
After 2 years he will be gone and Sean O'Hagan will be an excellent number two

So it now appears Jim Hamilton isn't returning to Glaws due to the size of the transfer fee required. Apparently he's now off to Sarries...

Notch wrote:He left partly because he didn't want to play second fiddle to Paddy Jackson. Now he's coming back and he'll definitely be playing second fiddle to Paddy Jackson.

I'm very happy, I was disappointed when he left- although Jackson will be many times the player he is and is already better, we seriously could use him to over injuries and play during international windows. If Jackson is injured there is no-one in the squad I would trust to cover 10 so Humphreys coming back really helps us out.

I just don't understand why the change of heart.

My understanding is that Mrs Humphreys hasn't settled here and wants to go home.

geoff998rugby wrote:Notch the difference was he was only guaranteed 1 year as second fiddle to PJ.

Irish offered him an extended contract - I believe it was the lack of security 1 year implied rather than being second fiddle.
He will probably get 2 years this time.

The reason for the change in attitude by Ulster is the alternatives - NOC and McKinney have failed to deliver.
After 2 years he will be gone and Sean O'Hagan will be an excellent number two

Sean O'Hagan has loads of potential, I'll be very interested to see how he progresses. His dad is part of the consortium that has taken over London Irish.

Gloucester have signed tom isaacs from ospreys

prop_lyd wrote:Gloucester have signed tom isaacs from ospreys

I don't think anyone saw this one coming! It does provide more strength in depth at centre which has been missing since Molenaar left.

We know Glaws have 2 more signings to announce this week and one of them is an international lock - but that could be someone who has one cap for San Marino...   

Dan Leo perhaps?

Bathite wrote:Dan Leo perhaps?

 That who I would have my money on.

HongKongCherry wrote:So it now appears Jim Hamilton isn't returning to Glaws due to the size of the transfer fee required. Apparently he's now off to Sarries...

Where did you hear that? I heard a rumour over a month ago that Saracens were looking at him but nothing since then. I have heard nothing about signings which is a bit odd.

Our discipline hasn't been great recently. I don't think signing Jim Hamilton would help us in this area. Might help us in the physicality stakes though.

Certainly would help us keep our reputation as the bad guys in European rugby.  The most unpopular chairman and CEO, disliked players like Farrell and Ashton.   Hamilton would just add another reason to dislike us.

Actually, in that company, Hamilton would look like an

I know Hamilton is leaving Montpelier to go back to England. which club is a bit of a mystery.

Beshocked, you forgot to mention Borthwick! nobody seem to like him although am not quite sure why