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Andy Onyeama-Christie on brink of Saracens exit as new club emerge
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Fissler Confidential: Another club enter England back-row tug-of-war
By Neil Fissler
Gloucester are believed to be the latest Premiership club to take a look at England star Chandler Cunningham-South, who is in the final year of his deal with Harlequins.
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Quins are very keen to keep Sidcup-born Cunningham-South, 22, at the Twickenham Stoop beyond the end of the season, but face stiff competition from Sale Sharks, as RugbyPass exclusively revealed over a month ago.
The Cherry and Whites have made a player who can switch between lock and back row a priority signing for next season, and the whispers are that Cunningham-South is someone that they are very keen to speak to.
Wales loosehead Nicky Smith is attracting serious interest from across the English Channel with his Leicester Tigers contract running out at the end of the season.
Smith, 31, who has played for Wales 58 times, quickly became a fan’s favourite at Welford Road after signing from the Ospreys at the start of last season, and his performances haven’t gone unnoticed in the Top 14.
Stade Francais and Toulon, who are both hot on the heels of early-season pace-setters Bayonne and Montpellier, are believed to be the clubs that have put Swansea-born Smith on their list of potential targets.
Former England loosehead Beno Obano has until early November to tell PREM Rugby champions Bath if he is taking up the option of a final year on his contract, which is due to run out in 2027.
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Obano, 30, who has started the new season with tries against Harlequins and Sale Sharks, won the last of his four England caps against Italy in February 2024, and could leave the Rec at the end of the season.
The London-born cousin of Lions skipper Maro Itoje has made 167 appearances for Bath, whom he joined in 2014 after a stint with the Wasps academy, but has been attracting interest from R360.
The Sharks are in pole position to sign Springbok hooker Marnus van der Merwe, who is now in the final year of his contract with United Rugby Championship rivals the Scarlets.
The Scarlets want to keep Van der Merwe, 28, but are likely to lose him, with the Sharks keen on taking him back to South Africa, while Irish province Munster and Top 14 strugglers Clermont Auvergne are also interested.
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Fissler Confidential sources in Ireland say Munster fear being outbid as the Sharks have a history of expensive reactive recruitment and are understood to have put a three-year deal worth £250,000 a season on the table to lure him home.
Bristol Bears aren’t having much luck in their quest to sign up an England fly-half for the second season running after missing out on Fin Smith, who opted to extend his contract with the Northampton Saints.
It was only a year ago that the Bears tried to lure Marcus Smith away from Harlequins with an £800,000-a-year contract, only for him to pledge his future to his current employers.
Well-placed sources now indicate they held talks with Smith, who was also a leading target for R360 before he put pen to paper on a new Saints deal exclusively revealed by Fissler Confidential.
Steve Diamond drew up a huge shopping list of transfer targets for Newcastle Red Bulls before the club’s Austrian-based energy drink giant’s owner sacked him.
Scotland scrum-half Ben White, England back-row Tom Willis and another former England international, Joe Marchant, who is playing in France for Stade Francais, were all leading targets for Diamond.
But all recruitment has been put on hold until their new sporting director, Neil McIlroy, arrives at Kingston Park from France on November 1, and he will then continue with the work that Diamond started before he left.
Len Ikitau says that his wife Sammie is expecting a baby daughter who will be born in England after he arrives in the country to take up a lucrative short-term contract with Exeter Chiefs.
“She will be born in England, but obtaining that passport won’t be straightforward. I was hoping to get her an English passport, but after speaking with Scott Sio, who had a baby here, it’s unfortunately clear that it doesn’t work.
“If we were having a boy, I was hoping to be playing in France. But I’m excited,” laughed Ikitau, speaking to RugbyPass after arriving in the country on Wednesday.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona became the first victim in the wake of the Melbourne Storm’s Grand Final defeat to the Brisbane Broncos, but has been linked with a cross-code switch.
The Storm released the twice NRL Grand Final winner from the final two years of his huge A$850,000 (£413,000) a year contract despite playing 215 games for the club.
Asofa-Solomona is one of many NRL players linked with a move to R360, while Japanese clubs have also taken a close look and could be interested spectators when he plays for New Zealand in the Pacific Championship.
Grenoble have launched a search for a medical joker prop with former France under-20 international Éli Églaine, who could miss the rest of the season through injury.
The loosehead played in the opening six games of the season but ruptured his ACL in the 16th minute of last week’s defeat to Aix.
Sources in France have indicated that they are looking towards New Zealand for a replacement and hope to get someone who can arrive within the next couple of weeks.