England's Raffi Quirke nearing Sale Sharks exit to revive career

Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter has made recruiting a new scrum-half a top priority for next season, and the whispers are that he has made a move for former England international Raffi Quirke.

Quirke, 23, is out of contract with Sale Sharks at the end of the season and had been putting off deciding on his future until the New Year after his once-promising career stalled following a string of injuries.

He has made seven appearances, scoring one try this season after recovering from a second wrist injury, but his future remains unclear after dropping down the pecking order for both club and country.

Quirke scored a match-winning try for England against South Africa in 2021 but has suffered a string of problems, including a broken jaw and a damaged ligament in his foot, and is now the Sharks’ third-choice scrum-half.

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Gus Warr is now firmly established as the Sharks’ first-choice, while Nye Thomas has been the main backup off the bench, meaning that Quirke could be forced to move on to get his career back on track.

He was being considered by Harlequins when they looked at possible replacements for Danny Care before the veteran former England international confirmed that he will be at the Twickenham Stoop next season.

Baxter thought he had solved his problem area when they put a three-year deal in place to bring Scotland international Ben White back from Toulon before the Top 14 side insisted that he see out the remaining year of his contract.

The Chiefs have recruited Wallaby back-row Tom Hooper from the Waratahs, and Quirke falls into a similar age category and is the kind of player that Baxter has been looking to recruit.

“I’m determined not to get panicked into signing the wrong players. We are only going to approach players to make us better. I’d rather bring in two really high-quality players than four, five or six squad players,” he told RugbyPass.