Fissler Confidential: England star 'bewildered' by exit from PREM club

Bulls lock Reinhardt Ludwig is starting to attract serious interest from Japan Rugby League One outfits despite being tied down at Loftus Versfeld until the summer of 2028.

Ludwig, 24, who also plays at blindside flanker, made his Bulls debut in a defeat against the Stormers in January 2021 and started the new season on fire, scoring two tries and winning 10 lineouts in the win in Zebre.

Japanese clubs are taking a close look at the former Baby Bok, a Junior World Cup winner five years ago, who has forced his way back into Johan Ackermann’s plans after seven months in the wilderness following Ruan Nortje’s departure.

Saracens want to take up an option on the contract of Wales loosehead Rhys Carre, who is closing in on his 50th appearance for the club, to keep him in North London beyond the end of the season.

Carre, 28, returned for a second spell with Saracens two years ago after a stint with his hometown club Cardiff and signed a new deal with the Men in Black in March, but talks are underway about him staying longer.

Last year, he was linked with a move to Munster after it emerged that he could qualify to play for Ireland, but Steve Tandy has since selected him 11 times, shutting down talk of a potential switch of allegiances.

Former Northampton Saints and England star Lewis Ludlam, out of contract at the end of the season, has extended his stay at Toulon for two more seasons, until the summer of 2029.

Ludlam, 30, is in the third year of his contract on the Côte d’Azur and has become a big favourite of Toulon fans, but he has ended the hopes of Gallagher PREM clubs looking to lure him home.

He has joined former England and Lions tighthead Kyle Sinckler, who was also out of contract at the end of the season, in pledging his future to Toulon until the end of the 2028-29 campaign.

Christ Tshiunza is ready to play in Wales next season to force his way back into Steve Tandy’s plans for the 2027 World Cup in Australia, just months after joining Sale Sharks.

Tshiunza left Exeter Chiefs for the North West in the summer and is ten caps short of the 25-cap rule, and Welsh Rugby’s Professional Rugby Board voted against bending the rules to make him eligible after he turned down Cardiff and the Ospreys.

The back rower is again named on the replacements bench for the Sharks’ trip to Saracens and is being marketed for a move to Wales next season, with Cardiff, the Ospreys, Dragons and the Scarlets all being alerted to his availability.

Sale Sharks centre Alex Lozowski, who has been capped five times by England in a long career, admits that his departure from Saracens in the summer was bewildering and peculiar.

Lozowski, 33, returns to North London for the first time since leaving the club, having struggled to get a game in the second half of last season after agreeing to move to the North West.

“It was bewildering and peculiar to me. They have their decisions and their reasons, and even though you can disagree with them as strongly as you like, it doesn’t really count for much,” he told Fissler Confidential this week.

Bristol Bears boss Pat Lam has revealed that his Head of Athletic Performance, Kev Geary, is switching sports to work for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer in America.

Geary, who has worked with Munster, Ireland, Ulster and England A, is leaving the Bears after eight years to move to the United States in November, the Bears boss has revealed.

“He’s done unbelievably good work here, and we’ll miss him, but that’s the whole thing about here. We’re all going to leave at some stage, just take your department or take your area and take it to another level, and he’s certainly done that,” said Lam.

Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter has assured former Springbok hooker Joseph Dweba that he is still in his plans despite waiting to make his first appearance of the season after falling down the Sandy Park pecking order.

Baxter has opted for untested youngster Louie Gulley to back up Jack Yeandle, leaving Dweba and Julian Heaven kicking their heels on the sidelines, and they could drop even further when Max Norey returns to action.

“Joseph’s fine and in full training. He’s training well, but like everyone else he’s just got to keep his head down and train well. His opportunities will come shortly. He’s not far away; he’s working hard and showing a good attitude in training,” said Baxter.

Back-to-back World Cup-winning hooker Bongi Mbonambi is still linked with a move away from the Sharks, despite extending his contract with the Durban franchise earlier this year.

Mbonambi, 35, has yet to play a game this season after a knee injury and then a lower back injury, and won the last in his 89th cap against Wales last November.

He hasn’t played for the Sharks, whom he joined from the Stormers six years ago, since the Champions Cup win over Clermont Auvergne at Kings Park in January.