James Haskell rumours explode after star follows Premiership club's Twitter account
The never-ending speculation over James Haskell’s next club has ramped up after the star liked another Premiership club’s Twitter account.
Haskell is leaving Wasps at the end of the season, but as yet, a new club has yet to be be announced. The backrow has been linked with Bristol, Worcester, Northampton Saints, Gloucester and even Glasgow in the Pro14.
However, a social media follow that was spotted by ‘Friends of the Stoop’ social media account suggests the England flanker could be set to sign for Harlequins.
It may seem like a tenuous link, if it weren’t for the fact that Haskell only follows one other club – Wasps.
If the move to Harlequins was to go ahead, it would see him reunited with England prop Joe Marler; the pair famously wrestled each other after an incident with a water bottle earlier in the season.
In April Haskell confirmed to RugbyPass that a deal has yet to be done to ensure he is available for England selection as he bids to keep alive his hopes of being part of Eddie Jones’s World Cup squad in Japan next year.
“Am I upset? No, that is just the nature of professional sport,” Haskell told Chris Jones of RugbyPass. “I am disappointed that I can be starting for England one week and playing well and still be sorting things out. If I was prepared to give up on England and go abroad then this would have been done and dusted a while ago. The fact is, I want to give it a shot with England unless told otherwise.”
Haskell is aiming to end his Wasps career on a high.
“A lot of it comes down to composure and we have a lot of experience in the team and a real desire to attack all the time. Sometimes that mindset means you are always looking to try and get another score but if we are a man down or haven’t scored for some time then let’s have the composure to go for the simple play.”
Haskell’s options have narrowed somewhat, with Gloucester ruling themselves out of the equation last month.
Head coach Johan Ackermann told the Daily Mail “We’re fine at loose forward department so we won’t be taking on James”.
Haskell has already said he won’t be joining Bristol, despite the newly promoted club spending heavily to prepare for their return to top flight, while London Irish’s recent relegation has taken them out of the equation.
The big backrow courted controversy last weekend when he branded rugby ‘pathetic’ after he was penalised for a high tackle against Northampton Saints last week.
“I don’t know what’s happened to rugby? It sounds like I’m fading out at the right time, it’s becoming a bit of a pathetic sport at the moment.”
Northampton Saints could be another option, with a high number of players leaving Franklin’s Gardens, as Chris Boyd reshapes the squad for next season.
“My priority is going to a place that I’ll contribute to, will improve as a player and be competitive, and obviously keep me in the mix for England. I’ve got to make a big decision,” Haskell told Sky Sports in January.
“I’ve got to talk to my agent, sit down and look at the options. “I’m very sad to be leaving Wasps and I just want to keep being involved here [with England]. I want to play at a club that is competitive and is going to win silverware.”
Haskell has said he will stay in the Premiership even if it means a pay cut as a result.
In an interview with the Guardian, Haskell spoke of the chance to appear in the 2019 Rugby World Cup: “It would essentially be a dream come true.”
“It’s a massive challenge but there would be a big pot of gold at the end of that rainbow. My priority is to stay in the Premiership. I’m fully aware if I go outside of that, then it’s game over. They are not going to make a dispensation for me, sadly.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
84 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
2 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
5 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to comments