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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
Love the reaction after last 2 W.Cups re rule changes…maybe good for more for more of a “ league” type running game( which I personally don’t like) but seems Rassie is definitely in ther heads…
5 Go to commentsGreat. More unwanted changes. Because these always work out well.
5 Go to commentsI’m sure South Africa’s opponents will rejoice at World Rugby minimising one of the Boks’ most potent weapons, but you just know Rassie is cooking something up with free-kicks that no-one else has thought of. Let them play checkers. Rassie’s playing chess. 😂
5 Go to commentsAfter a fairly simple Pac4, the BFs will find out a lot about themselves in September when they face the rampaging RedRoses at Twickenham in front of a record crowd. After that they will face them again in Canada in WXV1. They also have France to contend with. Will be interesting to see what Australia have to offer with Jo Yapp at the helm.
1 Go to commentsSuper Rugby Pacific has been better as a spectacle due to the emphasis on speeding the game up and I’d look at taking things a step further. Instead of giving teams 90 seconds to take a conversion, let’s bring that down 60 seconds. You could also look at allowing 45 seconds for a penalty goal. Maybe teams could get 20 seconds instead of 30 to form a scrum before the ref then starts the engagement process. However, this year the most pleasing change is the added competitiveness in the Trans Tasman matches. What does frustrate me is how the rugby media in Australasia allow the the whole ‘‘rugby is boring’’/’’rugby yawnion’’ narrative to take hold from from vindictive league types, the chairman of the ARL commission and News Limited Australia. Stick up for the game and shift the narrative!
22 Go to commentsIt’s not new for nines to be the key playmaker. For the Boks it has been common, with Fourie du Preez and Joost vd Westhuizen being obvious examples. It's also not that recent for nines to be box kicking, covering high balls in the back field, and tackling in the defensive line. For example, Faf de Klerk has been doing all of that for years.
6 Go to commentsThe hell with this constant regurgitation of what this pretty boy is doing. For all I care he might as well be doing a Jamie Oliver cooking course. Rugby is not a progression toward the NFL, which, given its prominence in your reporting, you appear to regard as the ultimate contact sport. It has virtually nothing to do with rugby, and forever may that remain the case. I know that if I don’t like it I don’t have to read it, but I’m sick of seeing this dishwater-dull nonsense.
2 Go to commentsGuys Eben did not mean it in a ugly way as it’s just a feeling he had. We Safas rate the All Blacks and no Bok player wants to play NZ in a Knockout game
148 Go to commentsHe basically described who Aaron Smith also considers the GOAT 9….the one & only Fourie du Preez😎
6 Go to commentsI’m hoping that the Reds can win their last 4 games with a couple of try bonus points. The pessimist in me wouldn't be surprised if the Drua and the Tahs knock the Reds over. The Reds may end up ruing the fact they were distinctly 2nd best against the Force and just so clunky against Moana Pasifica. The Brumbies should win all their remaining games with some bonus points giving them at least a top 2 finish as the leading Kiwi sides will take points off each other. How the Brumbies handle the fact that they will be expected to beat the Crusaders will fascinate me. You’d probably have to go back to 2001 for the last time the Brumbies would go into a game against the Crusaders odds on to win.
8 Go to commentsFree to air is the key to fan expansion. I attended last weeks game at Suncorp (Reds v Blues) and the total cost is prohibitive to most people that wish to attend. Two tickets $130, parking (event day gouging) $75, road tolls $20, dinner beforehand $130, plus some petrol and a beer inside the stadium and a single game starts to cost $300-400. Who can afford that week in week out, I’d love to go more but could only afford this one game to see the Blues, I’d have loved to have seen more NZ teams here but I’d need to stop eating or sell a kidney.
22 Go to commentsBrumbies are looking good and if they keep their home form up a final is not beyond the realms of possibility. They showed against the Hurricanes exactly how clinical they can be as they absorbed pressure in that contest while also scoring points and applying their own pressure. Reds are well placed as well but need to find consistency. They are building a longer term project with a young side and plenty of quality players. Been surprising to see the strength of Aussie sides this year after the debacle of the world cup. Have NZ sides gotten weaker? Have Aussie sides gotten stronger? A bit of both I would say. Whatever the case its good to see some actual competition between NZ and Aus sides again and thats exactly what the fans wanted and is probably driving better viewership numbers. All of this can only be healthy for Aus and Super Rugby and I hope the Brumbies go all the way.
8 Go to commentsDead time reductions are important as is ball in play time increases. Premiership leads the way in terms of ball in play and Northern refereeing standards around the breakdown has sped up the game significantly. Super Rugby is trying new things but its not leading the way in terms of making gains in reducing dead time and ball in play time. Northern administrators are also not against speeding up the game, on the contrary they want a faster game and have been trying things and are embracing increasing the speed of rugby. Super Rugby isnt providing a blueprint for anything, its just part the agreed upon blueprint that administrators across the world are moving to.
22 Go to commentsSome interesting stats that just proved what my first impression of NZ’s drive to speed up Rugby Union would amount to - fine margins here and there to cut a few seconds off the game and nothing else. To do more there would have to be wholesale changes to the game like doing away with scrums, lineouts and bringing back the ELV’s to have free kicks instead of penalties. Very little chance of it happening but, in the end, Ruby Union would be a 15-man version of Rugby League. There are reasons why Rugby Union is globally more popular that Rugby League and what NZ are also not considering is the unintended consequences of what they want to achieve. This will end up turning Rugby Union into a low value product that will not be acceptable to the paying public. If people really wanted a sped-up version of rugby, then why is Rugby Union globally way more popular than Rugby League? Rugby lovers all over the world are also not stupid and have seen through what NZ are trying to achieve here, selfishly to bring back their glory days of dominance over every other nation and compete with Rugby League that is dominant in Australasia. NH countries just don’t have the cattle, or the fantastic weather needed to play like NZ SR franchises do so good luck to whoever has to try and convince the NH to accept going back to the days of NZ dominance and agreeing to wreck the game in the process. I have serious doubts on the validity of the TV stats presented by GP. All they did was expand the broadcasting base by putting it on free to air, not even any indication of arresting the continued drop in viewership. Match day attendance goes hand in hand with broadcast ratings so if there was an increase in the one you should expect to see it with the other. However, the drop in match day attendance is very evident to the casual highlights package viewer. The only club who looks to be getting solid attendance is the Drua. I am calling it now that NZ’s quest to speed up the game will fail and so will the vote on the 20-minute red card.
22 Go to commentsAll of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
22 Go to commentsThe match experience still sucks at SR games, irrespective of the game being a little quicker. Rugby has to compete with so much in the modern world, if you’re going to get people to leave their houses and pay to watch a game in winter then the experience has to be worthwhile.
22 Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
6 Go to commentsDon’t pay a blind bit of notice to Lukie… he likes the sound of his own voice and is always looking for something controversial to say. He has been banging on about Leinster's defensive system all season like he knows something Jacques Nienebar doesn’t. Which is the reason why he didn’t apply for the job obviously
16 Go to commentsWho got the benefits out of Schmidt, Lowe, Aki, and Gibson Park?
16 Go to commentsWhat’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
16 Go to comments