Fissler Confidential: Sharks hunt Embrose Papier, Leinster face losing hooker

The Bulls have knocked back Sale Sharks’ initial bid to re-sign former Springbok scrum-half Embrose Papier, who had a three-month loan spell in Greater Manchester in September 2019 and has been one of the standout players in the URC this season.

Papier, 28, who is approaching 150 games for the Bulls, is under contract in Pretoria until 2027. However, the Sharks offered to pay a fee to release him early, and the Bulls know that unless he is granted Player of National Interest status, they are struggling to keep him.

A possible solution could be for the Bulls to sign Sanele Nohamba, who wants to return to Japanese outfit Shizuoka Blue Revs, and to bank a transfer fee for a player they would lose for nothing at the end of his contract.

Bordeaux are poised to open talks with one of the world’s premier players, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who will be entering the final year of his contract later this summer and is likely to be in line for an eye-watering pay rise.

Bielle-Biarrey, 22, who has scored 28 tries in 25 games for club and country this season, has seen his stock go through the roof since putting pen to paper on his last deal in February 2024, after twice winning the Six Nations Player of the Tournament award.

Midi Olympique are reporting that Bordeaux will hold initial discussions with the winger’s representatives before the end of April and hope to agree a deal before he is allowed to speak to rival clubs in July.

Northampton Saints boss Phil Dowson admits that there was never any real prospect of club legend Courtney Lawes returning to Franklin’s Gardens before he signed a one-year deal with Gallagher PREM rivals Sale Sharks.

Dowson acknowledges that he would have been a huge asset to his young squad, but his availability came too late in the season, with the Saints only really now looking for a centre for next season.

“We’ve got our hands full trying to keep all of a really talented group of players, and we’ll have to deal with playing against them next year,” Dowson told RugbyPass.

Lyon have moved to sign former Leicester Tigers and England under-20 tighthead Tim Hoyt, who has spent this season playing for the newly reformed Worcester Warriors in the Champ Rugby.

Hoyt, who has also played for Nottingham and Chinnor, made his first two appearances for Fiji during the Autumn Nations Series.

He follows Akenzua Al-Kareem Abdul-Khalik, who has gone to Bristol, and Biarritz-bound Tom Hendrickson out of the Sixways exit door.

He is the third prop that Lyon have signed ahead of next season, with Puma loosehead Thomas Gallo arriving from Treviso, while Japanese international tighthead Opeti Helu is on his way from Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay.

Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter admits that Samoan international loosehead Scott Sio could “potentially” be on his way out of his double-chasing squad when his contract runs out at the end of the season.

The former Wallaby, who has spent the last four years at Sandy Park, could become a victim of the Chiefs’ battle to keep within EQP targets. Baxter told Fissler Confidential this week they have had “very open conversations”.

“He’s playing very well, you know, and he’s been a very good player for us, and he is coming off contract. That’s about all I can say at the moment. We’ll make announcements when we can on the future of these players,” he added.

Sale Sharks boss Alex Sanderson has confirmed that the club have parted company with much-travelled Irish hooker Tadhg McElroy, who was out of contract at the end of the season and had made 29 appearances for the Greater Manchester outfit.

McElroy, 28, who has played for Saracens, London Irish, Leinster, Connacht and Ulster, only made five appearances for the Sharks in the PREM Rugby Cup this season before being released from the final months of his contract.

“We’ve parted ways, really amicably. He’s loved his time here, but was not really getting a look-in in terms of the pecking order. That’s partly through injury, the things you can’t control, and partly through form,” Sanderson told Fissler Confidential.

Racing 92 inside centre Joey Manu could be offered the chance to return to the NRL, with an unnamed club courting his services despite him being under contract until the summer of 2027.

New Zealand-born Manu, 29, has also played at outside centre and wing, and moved to Paris last summer after spending a season in Japan with Toyota Verblitz, where he scored 11 tries in 18 appearances.

The former Sydney Roosters superstar is wanted by a club that is not his former employers and, according to reports in Australia, he could seek a return home this summer on compassionate grounds.

Former Wallabies full-back Tom Banks will be staying at Montpellier, having added a two-year extension to his contract that was due to run out at the end of next season. He will now be at the club until 2029.

Banks, 31, who has won 22 Wallabies caps, started his career with the Reds before moving on to the Brumbies, then had a three-year stint in Japan with Mie Honda Heat before moving to Montpellier at the start of this season.

He has established himself as the first-choice full-back ahead of Jon Echegaray and Stuart Hogg, who has been playing fly-half mainly in the Challenge Cup, making 20 appearances and scoring four tries.

Irish-born loosehead Daniel Brennan, who has spent the whole of his career in France, is set to leave Toulon and become Montauban’s 11th signing of a mammoth rebuilding project ahead of next season.

Brennan, who moved to France when he was five after his dad Trevor joined Toulouse, where he himself started his career, has also played for Brive and Montpellier but has only started three times this season.

He joins Johnny Matthews, Youssouf Soucouna, Lomig Jouanny, Christopher Vaotoa, Romain Macurdy, Lucas Dessaigne, Vaiolini Ekuasi, Joey Walton, Dachi Papunashvili and Sidi Mohammed Diallo, who are all joining Montauban.

Leinster hooker John McKee is on the market for a potential move away from Irish giants Leinster. The former Ireland under-20 international, 26, has got plenty of competition in Dublin for a game from the likes of Ronan Kelleher, Dan Sheehan and Gus McCarthy, so he is weighing up his options.