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Ex-England prospect Ibitoye left on shelf and facing season in ProD2
Barring a late call, former Harlequins flyer Gabriel Ibitoye could end up playing in France’s ProD2 next season for Agen, the club he left after just a handful of outings following his Harlequins’ switch.
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He is expected back at Stade Armandie for the start of preseason this week after efforts to find him a new club stalled following the end of an unsuccessful loan spell at Montpellier.
In an interview with regional newspaper Sud Ouest, Fonteneau said his efforts to find a new club for Ibitoye had been in vain. “There have been no transfer requests concerning him,” the president said. “In France, he is a little stuck.”
A first Top 14 campaign that appeared to start so well following his move to southwest France – with two tries in his opening match – quickly turned into a nightmare for the former Harlequins player.
He did not score again in five further appearances for troubled Agen, a side that lost 26 of 26 Top 14 games in a dismal relegation season, before he was loaned out to Montpellier in January.
It was not a happy move. Agen president Jean-François Fonteneau was scathing in his assessment of a player he had considered his star signing at the start of the campaign.
“He hasn’t been involved since the start of the season,” Fonteneau said at the time of Ibitoye’s move to the Mediterranean coast.
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“He does not invest much. He has a ProD2 clause which allows him to leave in the event of relegation at the end of the season. [This move] is therefore more in the management of his career rather than in the involvement with the club.”
He made just three outings for Philippe Saint-Andre’s Challenge Cup-winning side, and failed to add to his try tally.
Harlequins were, reportedly, interested in re-signing Ibitoye in March. He rejected their advances in a bid to secure a longer-term deal with Montpellier, according to The Rugby Paper.
But the club announced his release shortly after the final match of the regular season.
À l’issue de cette saison 2020/2021, le @MHR_officiel souhaite bonne route à 13 de ses Cistes ?
? https://t.co/le1xloJ9Jp#TeamMHR ??? #MHR1jourMHRtoujours pic.twitter.com/TwLo1jye5I
— Montpellier Rugby (@MHR_officiel) June 8, 2021
Now, it seems that Ibitoye may well have to return to Agen to see out the final year of his contract, whether he wants to or not.
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His hopes now rest on a non-French club coming in for him.
Comments on RugbyPass
The URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to comments