Fissler Confidential: Burns to Munster agreed as Tigers hunt Wallaby
Leicester Tigers head coach Dan McKellar is looking to go shopping in his native Australia as he endeavours to strengthen his Mattioli Woods Welford Road squad next season.
The Tigers are known to be battling Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs to bring Sam Spink home from the Western Force where he has been playing since Wasps went out of business.
But McKellar has also got Australia and NSW Waratahs ace Izaia Perese on his wanted list and is also keen on picking up a Melbourne Rebels loosehead believed to be South African-born Cabous Eloff.
Ireland fly-half Billy Burns has agreed a deal with Munster to move to the province when his deal with cash-strapped Ulster runs out at the end of the season.
The 29-year-old younger brother of former England fly-half Freddie moved to Ulster in 2018 and won the first of his Ireland caps two years later. He is joining Munster as a replacement for Joey Carbery, who is off to Bordeaux-Begles.
TRANSFER BULLETIN: ProD2 side Brive are set to confirm the signing of Northampton Saints back row Courtney Lawes imminently #GallagherPrem #ProD2 as per @neilfissler ??? #FisslerConfidential pic.twitter.com/OoVn1oGkLQ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 23, 2024
Burns will depart Ulster, who posted losses of £900,000 last year and have already told Will Addison, who has been speaking to his former club Sale, that he isn’t getting a new deal.
Northampton Saints could lose inside centre Rory Hutchinson when his Franklin’s Gardens contract runs out at the end of the season after it emerged they are struggling to agree on terms after talks deadlocked.
Cambridge-born Hutchinson, who is closing in on 150 appearances for Saints and has won eight caps for Scotland, could become a target for the Scottish Rugby Union, who are keen to bring talent home.
He is also on the radar of French clubs and Bayonne had him on a watch list of centres that they were interested in signing this summer.
Former England scrum-half Jack Maunder is set to return to Europe later this year after signing a deal with French Pro D2 club Agen for the next two seasons.
Like his dad Andrew and brother Sam, Maunder played for his hometown club Exeter and is spending this season plying his trade for the Australian Super Rugby crisis club Melbourne Rebels.
With the Rebels set to go out of business, Maunder, who started their 30-3 defeat to ACT Brumbies on Friday, has opted to move to the French second tier next season instead of returning to England.
Lyon have pulled the plug on a move for England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie due to injury risk, which could open the door to him staying in the Premiership with Sale. The Top 14 outfit wanted to sign Cowan-Dickie and Jonny Hill from the Sharks, but injuries have forced them to rethink plans.
It is the second time in two years that a move to France has failed to materialise for Cowan-Dickie. Montpellier pulled the plug on a two-year deal for him last year. Lyon have also had an interest in Gloucester’s George McGuigan, the former England Saxons international.
Luan de Bruin is on the market and looking for a new club next season as his contract with the United Rugby Championship Edinburgh is up at the end of the season.
The Pretoria-born de Bruin, who celebrated his 31st birthday on February 13, spent six years at the Cheetahs before making 17 appearances in a season in the Premiership with Leicester Tigers.
The former South Africa A international moved to Edinburgh in March 2021. He operates at tighthead but has also played at loosehead. He has only played one game this season, last weekend’s victory over Zebre Parma.
Former England No8 Luke Narraway is said to be weighing up his future at the Dragons after receiving a reduced contract offer from the Welsh rugby.
Narraway has been at Dragons for the past four-and-a-half years, having gained previous coaching experience at Bordeaux and Coventry. He won seven caps for England between 2008 and 2009, as well as playing club rugby for Gloucester, London Irish, Perpignan and Coventry.
Former Cardiff and Dragons player Sam Hobbs, who is currently Dragons academy head coach, would be favourite to replace 40-year-old Narraway if he moves on.
Scotland inside centre Sam Johnson faces an uncertain future with Pro D2 promotion hopefuls Brive, who want to release several non-jiff players this summer in what is likely to amount to an expensive exercise.
The 30-year-old started his career in Super Rugby with Queensland Reds before spending seven years at Glasgow Warriors, enabling him to qualify for Scotland on residency.
Johnson, who has made 13 appearances for Brive this season, only moved to France last summer. He is due to be under contract next season and would need a pay-off.
Former England U20s tighthead Ciaran Knight could become the latest player to depart from Gloucester this summer as he has been attracting interest from Premiership rivals Harlequins.
Quins are in the market for a tighthead to replace England international Will Collier, who is heading to France where he has joined Castres. The rumours are that Knight is a player they are interested in.
The 25-year-old joined the academy at his hometown club eight years ago, but his only starts this season have come in the Premiership Rugby Cup and a move to the Twickenham Stoop could kick-start his career.
Sharks fly-half Curwin Bosch is rumoured to have emerged as a target for Top 14 strugglers Montpellier at the end of the season. The former Springboks cap has spent eight years with the Sharks, making over 100 appearances in Super Rugby and the URC, but it’s felt his career could benefit from a move.
Montpellier are battling to climb clear of the bottom of the Top 14 and are understood to have Bosch on a list of potential recruits for this summer.
Comments on RugbyPass
“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.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 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.
2 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.
37 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 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…
1 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 commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
33 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
5 Go to comments