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Fissler Confidential: Prem rival's failed £800k bid for Marcus Smith

Marcus Smith looks on during the England training session held at the Allianz Stadium on October 08, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Bristol Bears failed in a bid to sign England fly-half Marcus Smith despite offering him an eye-watering £800,000 a year to move to the West Country when his Harlequins contract runs out at the end of the season.

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The Bears have made a top-class fly-half their priority for next season and put a three-year deal on the table, but it wasn’t enough to tempt him into making the same move as Lovejoy Chawatama last summer.

Smith, who also had interest from Top 14 clubs, has put pen to paper on a new deal with Quins until 2028, leaving the Bears and their huge bag of cash to look elsewhere to fill their vacancy.

Sale Sharks scrum-half Raffi is out of contract at the end of the season and is being offered to Premiership rivals Bath and Saracens as he looks to kick-start his career that has been hit by a series of injuries.

Charlton-born Quirke, 23, has only started 20 games for the Sharks. He broke into the England squad under Eddie Jones, winning two caps in November 2021, scoring a try against South Africa.

He is yet to play a game for the Sharks this season after having an operation to insert a screw into his wrist and is due to make his comeback within the next few weeks.

Pau gazumped Top 14 rivals Bordeaux Begles to win the race to land Argentina hooker Julian Montoya when his contract with Leicester Tigers runs out at the end of the season.

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RugbyPass exclusively revealed the move this week after beating off interest from Bordeaux, Lyon, and Perpignan. All three held talks with Montoya, who is closing in on winning a century of international caps.

Our friends at Midi Olympique have reported that Les Sectionnistes put a three-year deal on the table to lure him to the shadow of the Pyrenees, which was a year longer than Bordeaux, and it clinched his signature.

Springbok loosehead prop Ntuthuko Mchunu is weighing up an offer to swap his home town club, the Sharks, and make a move to the Stormers when his contract runs out at the end of the season.

Maritzburg College Mchunu, 25, has won three Springbok caps, including playing against Wales and Portugal in the summer has made 73 appearances for the Sharks.

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He came off the bench for the Sharks Challenge Cup Final win over Gloucester last season and had moved swiftly through the Sharks ranks after making his debut in 2019 is due to decide in the next few weeks.

Harlequins are set to offer England loosehead Fin Baxter, who is out of contract at the end of the season, a new long-term deal that will keep him at the Twickenham Stoop for the foreseeable future.

Baxter, 22 – who was nominated for the RPA Young Player of the Year award last season, missing out to Exeter Chiefs flyer Immanuel Feyi-Waboso – won his first two England caps in New Zealand in the summer.

Quins’ bid to re-sign him hasn’t been helped by the departure of his agent, Mark Spoors, from agency Wasserman. Spoors started with Sports Masters International in 2002 before founding Big Red Management a year later.

Montpellier lock Paul Willemse will find out next week if he will be forced into an early retirement after suffering another concussion against Stade Francais last weekend.

The Pretoria-born French international, 31, who played for the Lions, the Bulls and Grenoble before moving to Montpellier in June 2015, is under contract to the club until the end of the season.

Willemse, who was concussed five times last season, suffered his latest in a clash with JJ Van Der Mescht and admitted pre-season that another would end his career will have a medical examination before a final decision is made.

Heinz Lemoto, who is tipped to become Australia’s next superstar, is set to wait until next year to decide if he will be playing union or league when he leaves school.

Lemoto plays union at Scots College and league for the Penrith Panthers, and he was the star on Australia’s recent under-18 tour of New Zealand.

The No. 8 is in the final year of his education at Scots, and he isn’t in a rush and is likely to wait until he can speak to the Panthers rivals under NRL rules in April before he decides about his next move.

Wales and Lions winger Josh Adams admits that he would consider a move to Japan when his contract with Cardiff ends after hearing Liam Williams talk about his experience in the Far East.

Adams, who came close to joining French club Lyon two years ago, says that he loved Japan after nine weeks there during the 2019 World Cup and would love to return.

“It’s definitely something I would consider. It’s such a cool place. Maybe in a couple of years, if there was an opportunity to do it, then I would certainly consider it,” he told a Welsh podcast.

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Comments

1 Comment
B
Bull Shark 172 days ago

The Stormers need someone like Mchunu.


Sheesh. Can’t believe Paul Willemse is still playing after getting 5 concussions in one year. That’s not a good image for rugby. And most certainly not good for his health!

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fl 1 hour ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

“A succession of recent ex-players going straight back into the game as coaches in their early 40’s would prob be enough to kill it stone-dead. Innovation would die a death.”

Would it? I do think one of the major differences between rugby and most other sports - which we’ve been overlooking - is the degree to which players are expected to lead team meetings & analysis sessions and the like. Someone like Owen Farrell has basically been an assistant coach already for ten years - and he’s been so under a variety of different head coaches with different expectations and playing styles.


“The most interesting ppl I have met in the game have all coached well into their sixties and they value the time and opportunity they have had to reflect and therefore innovate in the game. That’s based on their ability to compare and contrast between multiple eras.”

I don’t doubt that that’s true. But having interesting insights doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the best able to inspire a team, or the best at managing the backroom staff.


“Wayne Smith winning the WWC in his mid sixties three years ago prob means nothing to you but it meant a lot to him. It took him back to the roots of is own coaching journey.”

I don’t doubt that! But I don’t think coaches should be hired on the basis that it means a lot to them.


“The likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Wayne Bennett and Andy Reid all have a tale to tell. You should open your ears and listen to it!”

I agree! Never have I ever suggested otherwise!

176 Go to comments
J
JW 5 hours ago
French bid to poach 109kg 17-year-old dual-code Aussie prospect Heinz Lemoto

Yes that’s what WR needs to look at. Football had the same problem with european powerhouses getting all the latin talent then you’re gaurenteed to get the odd late bloomer (21/22 etc, all the best footballers can play for the country much younger to get locked) star changing his allegiance.


They used youth rep selection for locking national elifibilty at one point etc. Then later only counted residency after the age of 18 (make clubs/nations like in this case wait even longer).


That’s what I’m talking about, not changing allegiance in rugby (were it can only be captured by the senior side), where it is still the senior side. Oh yeah, good point about CJ, so in most cases we probably want kids to be able to switch allegiance, were say someone like Lemoto could rep Tonga (if he wasn’t so good) but still play for Australia’s seniors, while in someone like Kite’s (the last aussie kid to go to France) case he’ll be French qualified via 5 years residency at the age of 21, so France to lock him up before Aussie even get a chance to select him. But if we use footballs regulations, who I’m suggesting WR need to get their a into g replicating, he would only start his 5 years once he turns 18 or whatever, meaning 23 yo is as soon as anyone can switch, and when if they’re good enough teams like NZ and Aus can select them (France don’t give a f, they select anybody just to lock them).

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