Fissler Confidential: Leinster's up-hill battle for Taniela Tupou
Antoine Frisch pledging his international allegiances to France might not be enough to secure himself a move to one of a trio of Top 14 clubs jostling for position to sign him this summer.
An auction for the services of Munster’s French-born centre, who qualifies for Ireland through his grandmother’s between Toulon, Clermont Auvergne and La Rochelle, is underway. According to sources, the asking price is set at around €500,000.
But Fissler Confidential understands the IRFU want to keep him for the final year of his contract and may not even allow him to leave even if their price is met.
Exeter Chiefs’ annual summer clearout will continue, with both Jack Dunne and Joe Snow leaving the club when their contracts run out at the end of the season.
London-born lock Dunne, 25, has played 31 times since he was signed from United Rugby Championship big guns Leinster ahead of Connacht last season and will depart for the Scarlets after missing a large chunk of the campaign through injury.
Meanwhile, former Coventry scrum-half Snow, who scored a try on his only appearance of the season against London Scottish in the Premiership Cup, is following Frankie Nowell, the younger brother of Jack, to Australia’s Shute Shield.
South African-born scrum-half Ryan Louwrens, who is plying his trade with the Melbourne Rebels, is looking for a move to France and the United Kingdom later this year.
Johannesburg native Louwrens, 33, moved to Perth when he was 16 and has played club rugby in Australia, Japan and the United States, as well as the Western Force since turning professional.
He is in his second spell with the Rebels and has been attracting interest from Perpignan, who have missed out on signing Harlequins veteran and former England star Danny Care and Pro D2 pace setters Provence are also keen.
Michael Cheika, who has left gigs with the NEC Green Rockets and Argentina in the last year, is among the names being touted for a return to the NSW Waratahs when Darren Coleman stands down at the end of the season.
Cheika, 57, was in charge when the Waratahs won their only Super Rugby title a decade ago and missed out on the chance of a second spell in charge of the Wallabies following Eddie Jones’ acrimonious departures at the end of last year.
But it would appear that his main competition will come from Nathan Grey, 49, who played for the Waratahs before moving into coaching and is currently in charge of the Australia under-20s side and the National Academy in Sydney.
Montpellier and Leinster could miss out on signing Melbourne Rebels and Australia tighthead Taniela Tupou, who is under contract until 2025 if a takeover of the stricken Super Rugby franchise goes ahead.
It has emerged that former Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford is willing to invest $30m in the Rebels and relocate them to Western Melbourne, which could throw the recruitment plans of Montpellier and Leinster into disarray.
The Irish giants wanted Tupou, 27, to replace his countryman Michael Ala’alatoa, who has already announced that he will leave the Irish capital to move to Clermont Auvergne at the end of the season.
The Dragons are still waiting to hear if their bid to keep Wales back-rower Taine Basham out of the clutches of Premiership champions Saracens have been successful or not.
The Dragons are keen to keep one of their crown jewels on the Welsh side of the Severn Bridge and have tabled an improved contract offer in an effort to keep out of the clutches of Saracens and other interested Premiership sides.
Basham, 24, would fall short of the required 25 caps to remain eligible for Warren Gatland’s squad and has also been linked with a switch to The Scarlets, which would extend his international career.
Northampton Saints appear to have won their battle with England to keep scrum-half Alex Mitchell off the operating table, which would have ended his season with the Premiership and Champions Cup hopefuls.
Mitchell, who has been named on the bench by Saints boss Phil Dowson for Munster’s visit to Franklins Gardens, picked up a wrist injury on Six Nations duty, and England wanted him to have an operation.
It would have meant that his season with Saints would have ended but seen him fit for the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand, but the club’s surgeon didn’t think that an operation was necessary.
The Scarlets have been offered the chance to sign three props from United Championship rivals, the Lions, as they step up their recruitment for next season.
Fissler Confidential understands that brothers Ruan and JP Smith, along with Ruan Dreyer, have been marketed to the Scarlets for moves to South Wales when their contracts in Johannesburg run out this summer.
The Lions, along with other South African sides, are cutting the numbers in their playing squads now that the United Rugby Championship and Currie Cup competitions will no longer clash, and they now need fewer players.
Ulster are expected to start their search for someone to replace back-to-back World Cup-winning loosehead Steven Kitshoff, who is returning to the Stormers despite having another two years left on his contract.
Ulster have allowed Kitshoff to leave the club after less than a year in Belfast as they look to slash costs amid poor financial results. Kitshoff will join fly-half Billy Burns, who is joining Munster in a raft of departures.
But the clock is ticking on them finding a suitable replacement, with most top-quality players having already sorted themselves employment for next season.
Comments on RugbyPass
Great role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
59 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
59 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
59 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
59 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
59 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
59 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
59 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
59 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
59 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
59 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
59 Go to comments