1
Bath react to reports that Toulon are courting Jonathan Joseph even though he is under contract until summer 2022
Bath have reacted to speculation that Top 14 outfit Toulon are looking to recruit England outcast Jonathan Joseph and could potentially buy the soon-to-be 30-year-old out of the final year of his existing contract with the Gallagher Premiership club.
ADVERTISEMENT
Joseph last played for England in their November 2020 Autumn Nations Cup win over Wales. An injury ruled him out of the following weekend’s final versus France and he was then axed by Eddie Jones for the 2021 Guinness Six Nations, an ordeal the midfielder recently suggested signalled the end of his Test level career.
“As a player, I’m a bit of a realist and there are not many players that drop out of that squad that get back in,” said Joseph about his England situation in the lead-up to Bath’s recent Challenge Cup semi-final clash with Montpellier.
“There is probably only a handful of players I could name that have managed to get back in. I’m not waiting by the phone, waiting on a phone call. I’m at Bath, I’m loving it here and I’m trying to put in the best performances I can with this squad, trying to make this team a great team and to push on.
“Initially it was hard, first time properly being dropped. The first week was quite tough. It is hard to take but you get back on the horse and I’m still playing the game that I have loved since I was a kid. I’m at a great club with huge potential. Life could be a lot worse.”
They won't be known as Saxons when they pitch up in Leicester in June https://t.co/dIhl4Eo5DC
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 11, 2021
Despite being under contract at Bath until summer 2022, Joseph’s suggestion that his England ambitions could be over piqued interest on the other side of the Channel and Midi Olympique have reported that contact was made by Toulon to sound out the midfielder’s availability.
They claim that Bath’s demand of compensation valued at €150,000 resulted in Toulon president Bernard Lemaitre reconsidering his options, but the report ended by stating that talks were not completely over in a busy Top 14 market where the CVs of Jonathan Davies and Ryan Crotty were reportedly doing the rounds in France.
ADVERTISEMENT
Asked at his weekly media briefing what the state of play was regarding Joseph, Bath boss Stuart Hooper said: “I have seen what has been written but he is contracted to us. Evidently with our players, whether they are our players or big players around the world that people want to link with us then that seems to happen quite a lot. But as ever he is contracted and if there is ever any more to talk about I will do.”
Quizzed on whether any potential new recruits were due to be announced soon by Bath, Hooper added: “Pretty much all of it has been done and we are just waiting for the right time for the guys involved to release it.”
“I spoke to Rory Best and he got everything fixed…They look after you very well in Ireland. I was very impressed by how they looked after him, let him get everything he needed to get fixed and helped him rehab and get looked after. We don’t do that over here." pic.twitter.com/db0yee7rf5
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 9, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Thank your for wasting 2 minutes of my life Daniel. There is a useful message in there somewhere but your delivery sucks.
7 Go to commentsBen Smith, you are cry baby
213 Go to commentsSux that homophobia is still a thing though. I wonder how many players who could have become legends never kept playing rugby because they felt unwelcome.
7 Go to commentsCrazy he’s only 28, feel like he’s been around forever - don’t mind the move, safe pair of hands and creates depth in a thin position for ABs. Hopefully aides Kemara’s growth also without thrusting too much responsibility on him
1 Go to commentsMen should show strength and be mean, but they should be able to show emotion to those close yo them in certain times, birth of your child, death of family, proud moment. This article is stupid
7 Go to commentsWhat a weak article…absolute drivel and clickbait, well done. Will stick to rugby365 thanks
7 Go to commentsHonest, discipline, humility… Priceless.
2 Go to commentsSo many excuses. No mention of the SA number 2 being taken out illegally in the 2nd minute. That act of foul play had a massive impact on the SA game. Face it, NZ play pretty dirty very regularly, and it’s only since 2016 they’ve been held to higher officiating standards via stricter officiating and TMO reviews. They deserved to have a man down. Sorry. Fix the yellow and red cards and NZ will win more RWCs. Plus, there WAS a knock on invalidating the one try, so it was NOT a try. Period. Here’s a Kleenex…
213 Go to commentsOverheard conversation between NZ and SA rugby fans everywhere: We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! We’re the greatest! No we’re the greatest! Ireland are arrogant! True but they beat you! We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! Etc. etc, etc.
25 Go to commentsTypical crap Aussie weather
11 Go to comments“If they’d have beaten England, I still feel we would have been talking ‘is this the best team ever,’ ‘is this the best team that’s ever played in the Six Nations'” he said. “I still think they’re not quite that good. I actually don’t think they’re that good.” So Trimble is saying he doesn’t think this is the best 6N team of all time. He is silent on if it is the best Irish team of all time. Can’t disagree with him. Just another misrepresentative clickbait headline from the guys at RP.
25 Go to commentsWow, do we really still have to listen to all the excuses and “unfairness” of it all. Even blaming the bounce of an egg shaped ball for the loss. But the article is about context, so what about the Springboks having to play the other 5 teams in the top 6 and still beating a comparatively rested AB team on a very empty tank.
213 Go to comments“Teams would generally have three coaches below their head honcho; attack coach, defence coach, forwards coach” do they? I’m not sure what the NZ set up is tbh, but the other 4 sides top 5 sides all have very different structures to the one outlined in the article! As well as attack, defence, and forwards coaches, SA, Ireland, and France also have specialist scrum coaches. England have a specialist scrum coach too, but arguably don’t have a forwards coach, with that role taken on by Borthwick. SA also have a backs coach in addition to defence and attack, and Ireland and England have fitness coaches, with England also having two skills coaches.
2 Go to commentsWorst article I've read in a while. Trying to disguise a backhand slap as a compliment. The whole article is a bit weird and negative. I think South African men are emotional in general… think Clad le Clos’s father 2012 London Olympics.
7 Go to commentsIreland are going to win the world cup.
25 Go to commentsIt was the strangest result ever. Etzebeth should've been yellow card for his cynical retiring move and a penalty try. Birth second half tries by the Allblacks were fantastic and the TMO operating outside the law to rule out the first try was egregious. Yes, the boks got the win but it was through some bizarre officiating that allowed them to sneak home against 14 men that dominated them. The quieter Bok supporters know and acknowledge the Allblacks were the better and dominant side. Justifying the win because they beat a pre world cup Allblacks selection is silly.
213 Go to commentsA very English thing to do hey Courtney, blerrie kant
4 Go to commentsIt sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
25 Go to commentsIncluding SA and Argie teams was great for the quality of rugby, but middle of the night games and player travel/ jet lag make that unworkable. I think that SA in Europe and Argie building an American league with USA, Canada etc would be better long term. If Oz can't sustain Rebels then next cab off the rank should be a Japanese team. Keep regional comps to time zones, both club and test rugby. Then existing test windows for test tours plus RWC.
8 Go to commentsMisogynists have feelings too!
7 Go to comments