Beno Obano set to bring England career to a halt with Top 14 move

Bath have lost their battle to keep England loosehead Beno Obano at the Rec after he agreed a shock move to join Top 14 outfit Pau when his contract runs out next July.

It’s another blow for the former Gallagher PREM champions, who earlier lost their first-choice tighthead, Thomas Du Toit, who rejoined his former club, the Sharks, in Durban.

They also saw Alfie Barbeary move to Saracens, while François Van Wyk, who was Obano’s understudy, will be playing in the United Rugby Championship next season after moving to Connacht.

Obano, 31, who is the cousin of Lions skipper Maro Itoje, had been speaking to back-to-back Investec Champions Cup winners Bordeaux-Bègles about a move and was given a guided tour of the facilities in Southwestern France a couple of weeks ago.

Bordeaux-Bègles had earmarked Obano, who is approaching 200 appearances for Bath, to replace Jefferson Poirot, while they also have Matis Perchaud out of contract in July 2027 and his decision to join Pau, reported by L’Equipe, comes as a surprise.

Fixture

Gallagher Premiership

Harlequins

11:45

25 Sep 26

Bath

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Bordeaux could now switch their attention towards Stormers and Springbok loosehead Ntuthuko Mchunu, who was signed by the Cape Town outfit to become Steven Kitshoff’s replacement.

Obano, who made his Bath debut in a defeat at Exeter Chiefs in February 2015, started their Challenge Cup and PREM final victories in 2025 and returned to Steve Borthwick’s England squad in the summer.

He won his first England cap since playing against Italy in February 2024, coming off the bench in the 45-21 Nations Championship match against South Africa at Ellis Park, but will become ineligible for national selection when he moves to France.

Despite his recent recall, he wasn’t one of the 25 players announced at the start of the month as having been awarded an enhanced Elite Player Squad (EPS) contract for the 2026-2027 campaign.

His CV has been circulating among French clubs since he entered the final year of his contract at the start of July, and Pau, who finished fourth in the Top 14 last season, eight points behind Toulouse, have won the battle to sign him.