Fissler Confidential: Lions lock to join Stuart Lancaster in Paris

Exeter Chiefs are confident that England star Henry Slade, one of the players awarded an enhanced contract by the RFU, will sign a new contract to remain with the club when his current one expires at the end of the season.

The Chiefs, who are struggling in the Premiership and European Cup this season, opened talks with Plymouth-born Slade, 31, towards the end of last year, and they have made rapid progress.

The Chiefs, who have been playing him at fly-half since he returned from international duty at the Autumn Nations Series, believe they could reach an agreement before the Six Nations kicks off.

Gloucester boss George Skivington has lined up his second raid on Steve Diamond’s Newcastle Falcons in as many seasons to improve his squad for this season, and this time his target is tight-head Richard Palframan.

South African-born Palframan, who has made 14 appearances this season, including starting the wins over Exeter Chiefs and Saracens, played for London Irish, London Scottish and Worcester Warriors before moving to the North.

Skivington, who signed Alex Hearle from the Falcons last year, is keen to reunite with his former Exiles team-mate Palframan, whose father Steve is a former South African one-day international cricketer.

Former England lock Jonny Hill is set to move to France at the end of the season, a year after seeing a move to Lyon scuppered by a serious patella injury, after agreeing a two-year contract with Racing 92.

Fissler Confidential reported in December that Hill’s CV was again doing the rounds of French clubs ahead of a potential move at the end of this campaign and Stuart Lancaster has moved quickly to sign him.

Racing are only three points ahead of Paris rivals Stade Francais, who are 13th in the Top 14 table, and he will be the fifth Englishmen signed by Lancaster since he took over at the La Défense Arena.

Hill has been signed to replace French international Boris Palu, who is moving to Bordeaux on a two-year deal when his current contract runs out at the end of the season.

Palu, 28, who was part of the Racing side that was beaten in the 2020 Champions Cup final by Exeter Chiefs, won his only two French caps in the Six Nations months earlier, coming off the bench against England and Italy.

He has played 195 times for Stuart Lancaster’s side, including 14 times this season with six starts, and has touched down with one try against Pau in November.

Leicester Tigers loosehead James Whitcombe is poised to make a move to the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, to ply his trade in the United Rugby Championship.
Former England under-20 international Whitcombe, 24, has scored two tries in 64 games, including 11 games this season and was played in the Premiership Cup Final defeat to Gloucester in March 2024.

Whitcombe, whose father Martin played for the Tigers, has got Nicky Smith ahead of him in the Welford Road pecking order and starts games on the bench when the Welshman isn’t away on international duty.

Bath have ramped up their interest in Gloucester and Argentinean international Santi Carreras and want to strengthen their side at full-back next season and make him their latest signing.

He has emerged as Johann van Graan’s first choice to move the 51 miles up the M5 from Kingsholm to the Rec this summer, four years after moving to the West Country from former Super Rugby outfit Jaguares.

Carreras, 26, hails from Cordoba in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas and is the first-choice fly-half for his country, but his appearances for the Cherry and Whites this season have come at full-back.

Former London Irish boss Les Kiss has emerged as the clear favourite Down Under to become a new Wallabies coach if Joe Schmidt steps down after the visit of the Lions later this year.

Whispers from Australia are growing louder about Schmidt’s future every week, and it has been reported that Queensland Reds boss Kiss, who returned home after the demise of the Exiles, is his heir apparent.

But he has moved to distance himself from the talk, telling ESPN, “Myself, Zane Hilton, Brad Davis, Hayley Cronin, they’re my key performance people. We’ve got a contract here for this year and next year, that’s our focus,”

Former Worcester Warriors lock Myles Edwards is locked in talks with Stade Montois about extending his stay with the Pro D2 outfit beyond his contract running out at the end of the season.

Edwards, 27, who is in his second season with the club, has made 14 appearances, scoring one try and is vastly experienced in the French second tier, having played for Aurillac, Oyonnax and Vannes down the years.

Birmingham-born Edwards, a former England Counties international who started his career at Sixways, has also been on the books of La Rochelle, Wasps and Toshiba Brave Lupus in Japan’s Rugby League One.

Bordeaux tight head Carlu Sadie is moving closer to securing a move to the Bulls when his contract in France runs out at the end of the season.

Former South African under-20 international Sadie, 27, who weighs in at 21 stone, played for the Stormers, Lions, Sharks and Stade Francais before moving to Bordeaux at the start of last season.

Fissler Confidential understands that he is in discussions with the Bulls about a deal after making the decision to return home from France.