Silly Season Transfer Rumours 19/20

First topic message reminder :

New year, new thread, new scuttlebutt, rumour and misdirection.

Rob Howley ---> Tigers.

mikey_dragon wrote:Rob Howley ---> Tigers.

Thought he was heading to the Dragons?

formerly known as Sam wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Rob Howley ---> Tigers.

Thought he was heading to the Dragons?

The way things are shaping up for Team Wales he will probably remain with the national squad as one of 3 attack coaches.

Haha.

Rob Howley: Director of Crashball.

Na, time for Howley to move. Good chance for him to update his coaching methods/views in the club game and then maybe look for another job in a national set-up. Don't really want him circling the drain around Wales, going from the Dragons, to another region, to the age-grade setu-up, to the north Wales region. Go abroad and test yourself.

Kepu to Irish after WC along with Adam Coleman.
TRP also links irish with johnny Williams and mcguigan from Newcastle. some rumours of Jamie Gibson too.

stnick88 wrote:Kepu to Irish after WC along with Adam Coleman.
TRP also links irish with johnny Williams and mcguigan from Newcastle. some rumours of Jamie Gibson too.

A homecoming for those two.

stnick88 wrote:Kepu to Irish after WC along with Adam Coleman.
TRP also links irish with johnny Williams and mcguigan from Newcastle. some rumours of Jamie Gibson too.

Well if he does leave again i hope he doesnt come back. He'll develop a reputation like Keiron Brookes.

stnick88 wrote:Kepu to Irish after WC along with Adam Coleman.
TRP also links irish with johnny Williams and mcguigan from Newcastle. some rumours of Jamie Gibson too.

Hands off

They can have Mitch Eadie if they want

stnick88 wrote:Kepu to Irish after WC along with Adam Coleman.
TRP also links irish with johnny Williams and mcguigan from Newcastle. some rumours of Jamie Gibson too.

2 very good signings and 2 decent Prem options. Kepu is a very underrated tight head, clever acquisitions if true.

McGuigan will not be welcomed back if he jumps ship again. He's one of the reasons we're in the position were in and should want to sort things out. I'm actually surprised Irish are interested, he's nothing special.

to be honest pooly I'm not fussed about him either. porecki is improving and faainga is a decent player. matu isn't the worst either so it isn't a position I would be focusing on.

is Jamie Gibson any good these days? I was never a big fan when he was at irish. worked hard and solid lineout but always seemed a bit lightweight.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

stnick88 wrote:Kepu to Irish after WC along with Adam Coleman.
TRP also links irish with johnny Williams and mcguigan from Newcastle. some rumours of Jamie Gibson too.

2 very good signings and 2 decent Prem options. Kepu is a very underrated tight head, clever acquisitions if true.

McGuigan will not be welcomed back if he jumps ship again. He's one of the reasons we're in the position were in and should want to sort things out. I'm actually surprised Irish are interested, he's nothing special.

Falcons are paying McGuigan a big salary to sit behind Cooper so it might be mutual if your owner is cutting the salary budget again.

LondonTiger wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Rob Howley ---> Tigers.

Thought he was heading to the Dragons?

The way things are shaping up for Team Wales he will probably remain with the national squad as one of 3 attack coaches.

I do hope its a joke and not a legit rumour that he might be up for the DoR post at Tigers! Im probably more forgiving of his coaching record than the welsh fans seem to be but when it comes to team building and club management he has zero experience at all. If he were up for a coaching role at Tigers I wouldnt be vastly upset, but Id be surprised if they could match the kind of wages he'd want if they are landing a marquee DoR and having to pay off Murphy and god knows how many others.

Please tell me its a joke!

KC,

McGuigan is not sat behind Cooper this season though.

Having said that we have Blamire coming through who is a local lad and has been showing up very well for the Development side. He'll be in the senior squad next season and we still have Socino who i suspect wont be going anywhere, so maybe Dean is happy to let McGuigan go.

GeordieFalcon wrote:KC,

McGuigan is not sat behind Cooper this season though.

Having said that we have Blamire coming through who is a local lad and has been showing up very well for the Development side. He'll be in the senior squad next season and we still have Socino who i suspect wont be going anywhere, so maybe Dean is happy to let McGuigan go.

Sorry, GF. For some reason I thought Cooper was first choice but looking at stats McGuigan has started 14 prem games to Cooper's 5. So completely wrong on my part.

He's on a big wage in a position of strength though so a move to LI might work for all parties given they have some cap to use up.

I'm torn on McGuigan. At his best for Tigers I was really impressed with him, he was solid at the basics and his ruck work especially always caught my eye. He makes a nuisance of himself slowing down opposition ball. I often felt he goes missing in tight games though.

i think you've described him very well there KC.

He needs to playat his best consistently.
Cooper has had a lot of injuries this season aswell mind.

See what happens.

stnick88 wrote:to be honest pooly I'm not fussed about him either. porecki is improving and faainga is a decent player. matu isn't the worst either so it isn't a position I would be focusing on.

is Jamie Gibson any good these days? I was never a big fan when he was at irish. worked hard and solid lineout but always seemed a bit lightweight.

Not the best carrier, but strong in all other aspects of his game. Huge workrate and good in the line-out. If he controls his discipline, he is the sort of option most back rows need. However, I had it on good authority it wasn't happening about a month ago, so unless something has changed I doubt we will see him joining us.

I'd be quite surprised if McGuigan was on a big salary if I'm honest. He seemed to be quite down the pecking order at Tigers when he left (3rd or 4th choice?) and going back to Falcons with his tail between his legs hardly warrants a big outlay, he wasn't in a great negotiating position really.

Sale signing Lood De Jager

Good signing for Sale as they continue to try and build a pack to match the backs. 

Kind of signing Leicester could have done with.

Wow Sale for the title next season eh?

Great signing there.....Exactly the kind of player that Quins need.
With another academy lock leaving (Stan South) we are looking a bit thread bear in the boiler room.

propdavid_london wrote:Great signing there.....Exactly the kind of player that Quins need.
With another academy lock leaving (Stan South) we are looking a bit thread bear in the boiler room.

and to think both George Kruis and Joe Launchbury were released at 18 because you had better prospects!!

Charlie Matthews!!

Sgt_Pooly wrote:I'd be quite surprised if McGuigan was on a big salary if I'm honest. He seemed to be quite down the pecking order at Tigers when he left (3rd or 4th choice?) and going back to Falcons with his tail between his legs hardly warrants a big outlay, he wasn't in a great negotiating position really.  

Hearsay of course as I'm not in the meetings but heard from usually reliable ST holders at Tigers and Falcons that Mulipola and McGuigan both got very good offers. Deano supposedly targeting scrum consistency as the key area for Falcons to improve on from last season. Hasn't worked out sadly.

Thacker and McGuigan are supposed to have got similarly big contracts from their move, up around the £200k mark. Not huge contracts after recent wage increases but neither came cheap.

LondonTiger wrote:Good signing for Sale as they continue to try and build a pack to match the backs. 

Kind of signing Leicester could have done with.

Great signing for Sale. I've long wanted de Jager at Tigers, he's a terrific lock and one of the best lineout operators going. At 6'9" he's the same school of lineout strategy as Devin Toner, just throw him the ball and no ones getting as high as him!

He'll be on a big contract at Sale though - they bid £500k for Kitshoff. If spending less of Lavanini allows Taufua and Liebenberg to bolster the back row then might not be the worst thing. 6.Denton 7.Thompson 8.Kalamafoni isn't the worst back row when available but fielding 6.Fitzgerald 7.Williams 8.O'Connor against Exeter is diabolical - depth is an issue as well as quality.

So how many South Africans will be in the Sale lineup now?

mikey_dragon wrote:So how many South Africans will be in the Sale lineup now?

Depends how many of the rumours are actually confirmed as true.

Akker Van Der Merwe at hooker
Lood de Jager at lock
Ross in the backrow
De Klerk at 9
Robert du Preez at 10
Van Rensburg at 12

Confirmed at the minute. The other two du Preez brothers are linked as well but not confirmed. The Kitschoff rumour seems to have died though.

LondonTiger wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Great signing there.....Exactly the kind of player that Quins need.
With another academy lock leaving (Stan South) we are looking a bit thread bear in the boiler room.

and to think both George Kruis and Joe Launchbury were released at 18 because you had better prospects!!

Haha.

The club will never hear the end of this...

Charlie Mathews must have been one of the most disappointing locks of the last few seasons, massive guy that hated physical contact.

propdavid_london wrote:Great signing there.....Exactly the kind of player that Quins need.
With another academy lock leaving (Stan South) we are looking a bit thread bear in the boiler room.

Worrying isn't it? And you look at who Sale just signed! Perhaps this link with NZ could finally be put to some use and we could get Retallick?!

formerly known as Sam wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:So how many South Africans will be in the Sale lineup now?

Depends how many of the rumours are actually confirmed as true.

Akker Van Der Merwe at hooker
Lood de Jager at lock
Ross in the backrow
De Klerk at 9
Robert du Preez at 10
Van Rensburg at 12

Confirmed at the minute. The other two du Preez brothers are linked as well but not confirmed. The Kitschoff rumour seems to have died though.

Starting to look like a bit of a super rugby team. Assuming Sale are taking on the old Saracens blueprint? They could be a force in 3-5 years time.

mikey_dragon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:So how many South Africans will be in the Sale lineup now?

Depends how many of the rumours are actually confirmed as true.

Akker Van Der Merwe at hooker
Lood de Jager at lock
Ross in the backrow
De Klerk at 9
Robert du Preez at 10
Van Rensburg at 12

Confirmed at the minute. The other two du Preez brothers are linked as well but not confirmed. The Kitschoff rumour seems to have died though.

Starting to look like a bit of a super rugby team. Assuming Sale are taking on the old Saracens blueprint? They could be a force in 3-5 years time.

The squad up there is tiny at the minute so they could do with some players coming in. They've still got a good English core with Harrison, Beaumont, Curry (X2), James (X2), Solomona, Ashton, Yarde and then some more coming in through the academy. If they get the balance right the team will be good enough to start bringing people in too watch as the team start improving but have enough homegrown talent for those fans to get behind.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Confirmed at the minute. The other two du Preez brothers are linked as well but not confirmed. The Kitschoff rumour seems to have died though.

Stormers have sourced an extra £150k to add to the SARU offer, which took it over the £500k that Sale offered Kitshoff. Huge money but he's a fantastic player.

That deal falling through late is tough for Sale but they have Ross Harrison at loosehead already and now have £500k to invest elsewhere.

king_carlos wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Confirmed at the minute. The other two du Preez brothers are linked as well but not confirmed. The Kitschoff rumour seems to have died though.

Stormers have sourced an extra £150k to add to the SARU offer, which took it over the £500k that Sale offered Kitshoff. Huge money but he's a fantastic player.

That deal falling through late is tough for Sale but they have Ross Harrison at loosehead already and now have £500k to invest elsewhere.

Given the current climate of wage spend £500k for a prop of that quality, age and no prior injury record is worth it. The Boks have a lot of quality props and he is at the top. A player well worth building your front row around.

Not the end of the world for Sale their scrum is ok at the minute and with a better hooker and tighthead joining next season should improve. As you say have money in the pot ready to spend elsewhere now.

Saints have signed Henry Taylor from Saracens for next season. I don't know anything about him but seems to be in the Reinach and Mitchell mould of good distribution an eye for a gap and some pace.

Cover for Reinach going to Japan possibly?

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:Saints have signed Henry Taylor from Saracens for next season. I don't know anything about him but  seems to be in the Reinach and Mitchell  mould of good distribution an eye for a gap and some pace.

Cover for Reinach going to Japan possibly?

Made England under 20s whilst playing for Loughborough Uni then moved to Saracens. His career has stalled a bit. Good kicking game.

I see that Jack Singleton's move back to Sarries has been confirmed. I hope he can really kick on as he has perhaps the most promise of our young hookers.

Yes. As much as.im.critical of Saracens 'playing' of the salary cap it must be a huge boost for any player to be in that environment. Well supported, great coaching and 9 times out of 10 improve you as a player.

Interesting that he left them to get premiership game-time but now ready to go back.

Brilliant signing for Sale, exactly what they need.

Rumours now abound that Shaun Edwards will take over as defence coach for France. Raphael Ilbanez is tipped to take over as head coach after the 2019 RWC and Edwards knows Ilbanez from their time with Wasps so there is a connection there.

I give him all of 2 hours in the job. Until the first smoking break for the forwards.

king_carlos wrote:Rumours now abound that Shaun Edwards will take over as defence coach for France. Raphael Ilbanez is tipped to take over as head coach after the 2019 RWC and Edwards knows Ilbanez from their time with Wasps so there is a connection there.

I didn't know Ibanez was still involved in the game. Where is he coaching? Edwards is staying with Wales for 2 years, possible extension clause, and France vetoed the idea of having a foreign coach. Unless that's just the head coach position?

Gatland seems a dead cert to be the next Lions coach. It's unknown where else he'll be, possible NPC contract before that.

mikey_dragon wrote:

king_carlos wrote:Rumours now abound that Shaun Edwards will take over as defence coach for France. Raphael Ilbanez is tipped to take over as head coach after the 2019 RWC and Edwards knows Ilbanez from their time with Wasps so there is a connection there.

I didn't know Ibanez was still involved in the game. Where is he coaching? Edwards is staying with Wales for 2 years, possible extension clause, and France vetoed the idea of having a foreign coach. Unless that's just the head coach position?

Gatland seems a dead cert to be the next Lions coach. It's unknown where else he'll be, possible NPC contract before that

The foreign coach vote was only for the head coach position. Assistant coaches from abroad have coached in the France set-up previously, notably Dave Ellis who helped guide them to 3 grand slams during 11 years as defence coach.

Ibanez has confirmed he will come in as manager, overseeing off field proceedings. Fabien Galthie is supposed to be taking the on field responsibilities. Laurent Labit coming in from Racing as attack coach and William Servat from Toulouse as forwards coach. FFR looking to splash the cash on coaches building towards a home RWC in other words.

If rumours are to be believed then Edwards wanted a 4-year contract with the WRU, got offered a 2-year deal and FFR have offered him the 4-year deal he wanted. Only rumours at this stage with Edwards.

Adam Radwan to Quins according to the Rugby paper potentially.
With Earle out for a long time.

Would be a good fit for Radwan, especially with Brown getting on.

Welly wrote: Adam Radwan to Quins according to the Rugby paper potentially.
With Earle out for a long time.

Would be a good fit for Radwan, especially with Brown getting on.

I think most sides would have a look at Radwan if he was available. It's very difficult to defend that kind of speed. Like Varndell and May you can become a menace on the kick chase, kick return and generally given any space on offer. As defences get bigger and more physical pace is more valuable.

We havent used out and out fast wingers very well in the last few seasons, generally smart wingers with a good step or powerful guya do better for us as we dont make much space and they usually operate closer in amongst the oppo.

Rumour is that the WRU want Cardiff Blues to sign Boyde on the condition they let Nick Williams go. What a stupid decision that would be, Williams is their only ball carrier and they already have 3 good open-sides. No room in the inn for number 7's, Boyde should go to an English prem team.

If Radwan *is* available, I'd be hoping Wasps would be having a look. Despite the pretty good recruitment across the squad, we're still light in the back three given we're losing / lost WLR, Daly and Christian Wade. Edit: forgot that Campagnaro is off too.

Minozzi coming in is a nice fit for WLR, and Fekitoa is the like-for-like centre replacement for Daly, but I think lacks Daly's versatility and ability to cover the wing and fullback.

Wade was never all about out-and-out pace, but someone with Radwan's attributes would be a nice addition and a point of difference from Bassett on the other wing.

Having said all that, Marcus Watson staying fit is effectively like having a new winger, so perhaps we'll just go that route.

Josh Ibankope off to Sarries.
Huge chap with a lot of promise, but had a recent run of poor games - I hope that hasn't played a massive part in him departing.

Bristol DEPARTING PLAYERS:

Jack Tovey – 192 appearances, 37 tries

Jack Lam – 79 appearances, 22 tries

Nick Fenton-Wells – 50 appearances, 6 tries

Tusi Pisi – 50 appearances, 6 tries

Nick Haining – 33 appearances, 8 tries

George Smith – 23 appearances

Joe Latta – 18 appearances, 2 tries

Sione Faletau – 11 appearances

Reiss Cullen – 10 appearances, 2 tries

Ehize Ehizode – 6 appearances

Jordan Lay – 5 appearances

Jack Lam has struggled for game time this season but it's still a lot of experience for Bristol to lose Lam and Smith at the same time.

Smith is ridiculous. His initial retirement from international rugby came 9 years ago and he's still performing in the Prem. Given the scale of rule changes over that time it's pretty unbelievable he can still play pro rugby as an openside.