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Fissler Confidential: Radwan eyed to replace exit-bound England wing
Gloucester are keeping tabs on Newcastle Falcons flyer Adam Radwan, but it is not a move that they are planning for next season. Instead, they want him to move to Kingsholm ahead of the 2025-2026 season.
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Radwan, who is due at a Great Britain training camp ahead of the summer Paris Olympics, is still under contract to the Falcons, and it would need a transfer fee to buy him out of his deal.
Fissler Confidential understands that the Cherry and Whites, who are ninth in the Gallagher Premiership table, are monitoring several players under contract for next season.
Saracens have called off their search for a new winger, so it may not necessarily mean that former England winger Jonny May is heading to the Premiership champions after confirming that he is leaving Gloucester this summer.
Fissler Confidential reported in March that talks between May and Gloucester were deadlocked and that he was set to leave, but he now says that he is likely to be heading abroad rather than extending his Premiership career.
Saracens were looking for a winger to replace Sean Maitland and Alex Lewington, but they are now looking to pick up a bargain by spending £100,000 on a new lock. Mark McCall also has a tighthead prop on his wanted list.
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Wallaby forward Ned Hanigan is set to leave the NSW Waratahs and move to French Pro D2 promotion hopefuls Provence when his Rugby Australia contract runs out at the end of the season.
Hanigan, 29, who can play blindside flanker, No.8 and lock, has made 28 appearances for the Wallabies and has been offered a national top-up contract but is ready to turn it down in favour of a move to the French second tier.
He is in his second spell at the Waratahs, with a couple of seasons in Japan at Kurita Water Gush in between, and made two Australia A appearances last summer.
Veteran Samoan prop Logovi’i Mulipola, who has spent this season on the books of Premiership champions, is looking to extend his playing career for another year despite celebrating his 37th birthday in March.
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The Leicester Tigers legend began his Welford Road career in 2012 before moving on to Newcastle, Gloucester, Montpellier, and then Saracens, whom he initially joined last December as short-term injury cover before it was extended.
Mulipola, who can play tighthead and loosehead, has made six appearances for Saracens but would also consider a switch of career and make the move into scrum coaching if he cannot play on.
Rob Baxter has made recruiting a new centre his priority with doubts if two his his 30 year-olds, Rory O’Loughlin and Ollie Devoto, will still be at Sandy Park next season.
Baxter admits that the Chiefs are going with a smaller squad next season but will give priority to the younger players that they have already got at the club.
“We are not trying to bring in a load of journeymen. We are going to let them play. We feel like we have got a good academy group over the next two, three or four years, so we don’t want to block their pathways,” he said.
Perpignan have joined the race to land Munster centre Antone Frisch but Toulon are the favourites to sign him if they can agree a fee for the final year of his contract with the IRFU.
Toulon are continuing to negotiate a buyout with Munster, but Perpignan are waiting in the wings and is looking to step in and attempt to do a deal if the move to the Côte d’Azur doesn’t materialise.
Frisch, who qualifies for Ireland through his grandmother, has pledged his international allegiances to France, but Toulon aren’t keen on meeting the £500,000 asking price to release him from his obligations.
Bordeaux are still pressing ahead with plans to sign Scotland lock Jonny Gray despite him being released by Exeter Chiefs after missing the whole of this season with a knee injury.
Gray hasn’t played since damaging a kneecap during the Chiefs’ Investec Champions Cup semi-final defeat by La Rochelle at the end of last season, and last week, it was announced has left the Devon-based club three months early.
Bordeaux will be losing Thomas Jolmès, Kane Douglas and Jandré Marais this summer and have no plans to pull the plug on the signing of Gray, who is now focusing on getting himself fully fit, according to the Chiefs.
Harlequins, who are losing four experienced players at the end of the season, are still hunting for replacements after putting an inside centre and a tighthead on their shopping list.
Quins have set the alarm bells ringing among their fanbase because they are yet to announce any signings for next season despite losing Andre Esterhuizen from their midfield and tightheads Will Collier and Lovejoy Chawatama from their front row.
But we understand that the club have no plans to replace Italian international Louis Lynagh who has signed on to play for hometown club Benetton next season.
Cardiff appeared to drop a massive hint about the future career plans of Wales star Mason Grady after he featured heavily in a video released by the URC outfit advertising season tickets for next season.
Grady, who is out of contract with Cardiff this summer, has been a target for several Premiership clubs, including Bath and Exeter Chiefs, who have been keen to lure him away from the Arms Park.
But his appearance in the video has been taken as a sign that an announcement that he is staying in the Welsh capital to continue his international career.
Comments on RugbyPass
He basically described who Aaron Smith also considers the GOAT 9….the one & only Fourie du Preez😎
1 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 nearly odds on to win.
7 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.
20 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.
7 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.
20 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.
20 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.
20 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.
20 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 commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
20 Go to commentsThose are pretty good draws for the two top Aussie teams. I certainly wouldn't want my Chiefs to have a quarter final in Brisbane. None of the top teams will want the Crusaders.
7 Go to commentsHonestly, I am a bit lost here …. Ireland - RSA was (at least in my opinion) perhaps (from a purely technical / rugby-skills-show point of view) the pinnacle of the RWC2023 - almost flawless playing (putting aside the kicking of RSA which was the difference between the two teams), rugby at it’s very best …. if I were a Bok and after the game some Irish lads came around saying “see you in 5 weeks same place”, I definitely wouldn’t have thought of it as being in any way “arrogant”, rather a sort of jolly “if we both continue to play like this, no one could stop us” - besides, few of us fans would have, at that time, been surprised to see the same teams playing on 23 september and 28 october 2023 ….. well, we all know Ireland chose to hit a slump to keep the QF curse alive …..
138 Go to commentsThere’s value gleaned from having an All Black star running and training with your team. How many games he starts (or even where he plays in the backline) will be decided on a week by week basis based on the needs for that week. But the overall learning and growth for all concerned, I’d think, is massively beneficial. Especially for Irish players.
16 Go to commentsSon, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
16 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
29 Go to comments