Fissler Confidential: Bath secure two England stars, Saracens set to lose another

Gallagher PREM champions Bath are closing in on agreeing a new contract with openside flanker Sam Underhill, who is out of contract at the end of the season, with another England star set to follow.

A deal for the England international helped Bath to trounce Edinburgh 63-10 in the Champions Cup on Friday, and it could even be announced by the club before the Six Nations Championship begins at the start of next month.

Tighthead Will Stuart, who will miss the tournament with a ruptured Achilles tendon sustained against Munster at the start of December, has agreed a new deal in a boost after Thomas du Toit announced he was leaving.

Springboks scrum-half Faf de Klerk is expected to finish his career in France, as his time with Yokohama Canon Eagles in Japan’s Rugby League One is widely anticipated to end later this year.

De Klerk, who will turn 35 in October and has helped the Springboks secure back-to-back World Cup titles, was offered to several clubs about returning to the Gallagher PREM, where he enjoyed a successful spell with Sale Sharks. However, it is understood that he has been in discussions with a club about a move to the Top 14 next season and will consider his options before making his next move.

Sale Sharks could be closing in on a deal for Saracens star Alex Lozowski after further discussions about making him their next high-profile signing ahead of next season.

Fissler Confidential reported in November that Lozowski, 32, was in talks with the Sharks to bring an end to his Saracens career, which has seen him play 190 games since moving from Wasps a decade ago.

The Sharks this week announced that Tomas Francis would be joining Nicky Smith and Joe Marchant in moving to the North West next season, and the indications are that, barring a last-minute hitch, Lozowski could be next.

Edinburgh have renewed their bid to lure former England prop Alec Hepburn to the Scottish capital from United Rugby Championship rivals Scarlets when his contract runs out at the end of the season.

Edinburgh made a bid to land the ex-Exeter Chiefs loosehead, 32, last summer, but it was rebuffed. They are, however, ready to try again in time for the start of next season.

Ironically, it was his great-uncle Charles who paid for Murrayfield, where he could ply his trade next season, to get undersoil heating in 1959.

Martin Gleeson may be heading to Harlequins when his one-year contract with Gallagher PREM Bath runs out at the end of the season.

The former Super League star was appointed backs and attack coach at the Rec in October after Lee Blackett left to join Steve Borthwick’s England coaching team ahead of the Autumn Nations Series.

Gleeson is close to Marcus Smith after working with him under Eddie Jones with England, when he aimed to use league-style guile to help the fly-half’s natural attacking flair improve a struggling attack.

All Blacks tighthead Ofa Tu’ungafasi is on the market for a move to the Gallagher PREM when his contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union runs out at the end of this year.

The Tonga-born star, who is 6 ft 5 in tall and can play loosehead, will turn 34 in April and is closing in on 150 appearances for the Blues, but this may be his final season with the Super Rugby franchise.

Fissler Confidential understands the CV of Tu’ungafasi, who was a member of the All Blacks squad that finished runners-up at the 2023 World Cup, has started to circulate around PREM Rugby clubs.

Alex Sanderson has been gagged from talking about potential transfers or contract negotiations after it was feared his refreshing openness was harming Sale Sharks.

“I have been instructed and understand, actually, the necessity for silence. It’s the fifth amendment with recruitment because the white noise could be detrimental to those thinking of signing or thinking of leaving,” he said this week.

It comes after England scrum-half Raffi Quirke announced that he was jumping ship to Newcastle Red Bulls after receiving a £400,000-a-year contract offer to move to the North East, which was £100,000 more than Sale offered.

The exodus of players from Gallagher PREM strugglers Harlequins is showing no sign of ending any time soon, with up to ten players looking to quit the club this summer.

Former skipper Stephen Lewies announced this week that he is off at the end of the season to join the Sharks, with Nic Lynagh already departed for the Queensland Reds, and more are set to follow.

Fissler Confidential understands that hooker Jack Doorey-Palmer, who has been on loan at Championship side Cambridge, is on the verge of joining Leicester Tigers, while outside centre Hayden Hyde could be moving to Ealing Trailfinders.

Zac Lomax has been offered to clubs in France, with a move to NRL big guns Melbourne Storm hanging in the balance after his former club, Parramatta Eels, demanded compensation.

The Eels released the State of Origin star from his contract so he could move to R360, but the move collapsed when the breakaway league said that it was delaying its launch.

Melbourne want to sign Lomax ahead of the 2026 NRL campaign, but the Eels are refusing to allow it, so the backup plan is to try to find a Top 14 club that will take him after struggling to find a taker in Japan.

Gloucester are set to make another key signing ahead of next season after persuading Bath’s highly rated recruitment chief, Rob Burgess, to return to Kingsholm.

Former agent Burgess, who has had a spell as England’s team manager, moved to the Gallagher PREM champions from a similar role at URC outfit the Dragons and was the head of rugby at management group James Grant and YMU.

But he is now going back to Gloucester, where he was rugby manager for three years, in a blow to Bath, where he has become a key behind-the-scenes figure since September 2023.