Fissler Confidential: Saracens star's future up in air, Bok eyes Stormers exit

Alex Goode, who is out of contract with Saracens at the end of the season, is having talks about his future with boss Mark McCall about whether he will extend his playing career by another 12 months.

Goode, who will be 37 next month, made his debut in a 25-20 win over Bristol in May 2008 in a game that saw England World Cup winner Richard Hill play his last game, and he has made nearly 400 appearances for the club.

McCall is poised to hand Goode, who has won three European Champions Cup titles, an off-the-field role within the north London club if they decide not to extend his playing career.

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The Stormers appear to be willing to let World Cup-winning fly-half Manie Libbok, who still has another couple of years left to run on his contract, take a sabbatical from Cape Town.

Libbok, 27, played for the Bulls and the Sharks before moving to Cape Town, and has been offered to Leicester Tigers and clubs in Japan and France. The indications are that the Stormers won’t stand in his way.

It has been reported in South Africa that the Stormers hope they will be able to retain his services in the long term if Libbok, who has won 19 Test caps, is allowed to join another club for a spell next season.

Leicester Tigers are closing in on making an appointment to replace Michael Cheika when he leaves at the end of the season, and are understood to be in advanced talks with who they want to move to Welford Road this summer.

Fissler Confidential understands that they could make an appointment next week if the talks progress, as it is hoped that they will, and it will end months of uncertainty around who is replacing the former Wallabies boss.

Veteran Australian Scott Johnson was the latest name to be linked with the Premiership club, while former Tigers prop Graham Rowntree has also been touted for the job, as has Newcastle Falcons boss Steve Diamond.

Exeter Chiefs have been linked with a move for Zebre lock Andrea Zambonin just days after Northampton Saints announced the signing of his team-mate Danilo Fischetti.

Italian Rugby Players Abroad said on the social media platform X that the Chiefs, who are busy rebuilding their squad for next season, are rumoured to be one of the clubs looking at the 24-year-old lock.

Zambonin, who has nine Test caps but hasn’t featured for the Azzurri this season, is out of contract this summer and has spent the last four years with Zebre after starting his career with a two-year stint at Rugby Calvisano.

Former Scotland under-20 back row Rudi Brown has been handed a new three-year deal by Top 14 strugglers Vannes, despite still waiting to make his debut for the club after moving from Edinburgh.

Brown, 21, made one URC appearance for Edinburgh in March 2022 when he came off the bench in a win over Connacht, and will now be under contract to the Brittany outfit until June 2028.

He scored three tries in four games in last season’s U20 Six Nations, moved to Vannes last summer after Edinburgh released him when his contract ran out, and was recently called up by Emerging Scotland.

Premiership clubs are taking notice of Doncaster Knights head coach Joe Ford, and one of them is rumoured to be his former club, Sale Sharks.

Ford, 34, who played fly-half like his brother, England and Sharks ace George, is the son of Oldham Rugby League coach Mike. He became Knights head coach last year after the departure of Steve Boden.

Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson has been linked with several coaches in recent weeks ahead of a potential strengthening of his coaching set-up at the end of the season, and Ford played for the club between 2013 and 2016.

Scotland and Lions ace Ali Price is set for a move to Top 14 outfit Montpellier after URC side Edinburgh confirmed he will be leaving the club when his contract runs out at the end of the season.

Fissler Confidential reported last year that the scrum-half was having talks with Montpellier about the move long before Edinburgh confirmed that his contract wasn’t being renewed.

Top 14 strugglers Vannes have also revealed another move we flagged up when they confirmed that hooker Dave Cherry, who has been capped 16 times by Scotland, is joining them on a two-year deal until 2027.

URC basement dwellers the Dragons, who have lost 13 out of the 14 games they have played in the league this season, are set to turn to the Premiership in their bid to turn around their flagging fortunes.

The Dragons have signed Saracens and Wales under-19 hooker James Talamai, who was educated at Harrow School, as the WRU step up their policy of bringing Welsh players plying their trade across the Severn Bridge home.

The Dragons have also tempted home Millfield School-educated and Gilfach Goch product tighthead Codi Purnell from Bath, where he played in the Premiership Under-18 final this year.

The Rodney Parade based side have also tied down two more of Wales’ most promising youngsters with Under-20s duo Harry Rees-Weldon and Logan Franklin both signing Senior Academy deals.

Rees-Weldon caught the eye with a try against England in the Six Nations, while scrum-half Franklin was a near ever-present for the Under-20s, starting four of five games in the recent campaign.

Former Crusaders and Brumbies back-row Pete Samu hopes to remain in Europe when his contract with Bordeaux-Bègles runs out at the end of the Top 14 campaign.

Melbourne-born Samu, 33, who has won 33 Wallabies caps, joined Bordeaux two years ago and has been superb for the club this season, playing 13 games in the Top 14 and the European Champions Cup.

“For two months, he has been performing very high-level performances,” Bordeaux head coach Yannick Bru told the French media earlier this week.