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France is the next stop for one of England's under-20 World Cup winners from 2014
By Online Editors
Saracens have been busy this week getting organised for next season. Thursday’s announcement that Marcelo Bosch is to leave the club at the end of the current campaign followed on from the earlier revelation that Richard Wigglesworth is to help out Ealing Trailfinders as their attack coach.
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However, that hasn’t been the only bit of business the Londoners have done in a week where they qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions Cup and organised a five-year tie-up with Tottenham FC for use of their new football stadium for their annual March big fixture.
With so many stars on Mark McCall’s trophy-winning roster, Hayden Thompson-Stringer has struggled to make a lasting impact during his apprenticeship at the club.
Of his 32 appearances, just seven have been as a starter since 2014. However, that restricted opportunity hasn’t stopped his potential being noticed elsewhere as high-flying Pro D2 outfit Brive have snapped up the loosehead prop on a two-year deal.
Thompson-Stringer, who has also played in the back and second rows, was an under-20 World Cup winner in June 2014 in New Zealand in an England squad that featured Maro Itoje and Billy Burns.
?? Bienvenue à Hayden Thompson-Stringer, pilier gauche de 24 ans en provenance des Saracens !
Plus d'infos par ici ? https://t.co/kB2iRANFcP#WEARECAB #WELCOMEHAYDEN pic.twitter.com/WR1a3kunlW— CABCLRUGBY (@CABCLRUGBY) April 4, 2019
He has also had loan stints away from Saracens, spending some time at Bedford in the Championship while also heading down to Australia in 2016 to hook up with Manly for some Shute Shield action and giving his transformation to prop a go.
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This season he has featured twice off the bench in the Premiership, while also appearing as a Champions Cup sub in a pool game versus Lyon.
Brive boss Jeremy Davidson, the former Ireland and Lions second row, was delighted he convinced Thompson-Stringer his future was best served in France at a club that could potentially be in the Top 14 by the time the English forward arrives as they are chasing hard to gain promotion from the lower league.
“Hayden is a loosehead prop with great potential who is coming to gain experience and maturity in France. He is a very explosive and dynamic player in the game, both in attack and defence.”
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Well done in putting Eddie's stats into perspective Nick. I'd like to see the try/phase stats after discounting tries from rolling mauls and intercepts. Reminds me of the story Rocky Elsom once told about how the Edster figured out that scrums only take up an average of 8 minutes a game. Apparently our Messiah thus concluded that the team should only devote 8 minutes to the scrum at training!
Go to commentsYo Nicholas. The crowd at the Roar told me you'd quit and I'd find your column elsewhere. Great to see you're still on the job. I enjoyed this, and and no wonder I missed you. Over at the other place, on the day before you posted this, I commented on the game against the Reds: "Carter Gordon was another interesting player on the field, although his form wasn’t well showcased in the match, which isn’t to say he didn’t play well, only that he didn’t particularly star. I know virtually nothing about CG, and wonder if I’m seeing a tall thin 10 who holds the ball with both hands and likes to tackle, besides everything else … I dare not say who that reminds me of." I was scared of putting the mocker on him, but now you've said it! Are we seeing the ghost of Bernie? Early days, but he's certainly refreshing.
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