Saracens eye raid on Northampton Saints' half-back stocks

Saracens could make a move for Northampton Saints scrum-half Tom James, with their Springbok star Ivan van Zyl being lined up for a move to the Sharks despite having a year left to run on his contract.

The Durban United Rugby Championship franchise wants van Zyl, 30, who has spent the last five years in North London, to replace Grant Williams, who is moving to Japan when his contract runs out this summer.

Van Zyl, who has been capped six times by the Springboks, the last coming against Wales in November 2018, spent six years with the Bulls before joining the Gallagher PREM outfit, where he has made 116 appearances.

The Sharks were growing in confidence over the weekend that Saracens, with whom they enjoy a good relationship, might release Pretoria-born van Zyl from the final year of his contract to replace Williams.

There were whispers last week that Saracens, who have Wales international and Lions tourist Tomas Williams arriving from PREM rivals Gloucester in the summer, have been showing an interest in James.

The 32-year-old played for Bedford Blues and Doncaster Knights before moving to Franklin’s Gardens, where he has made 121 appearances, although only 46 of them have been starts.

Scrum-half is an area where Saints are particularly well stocked, with Archie McParland, who is 11 years younger than James, seen as the long-term backup to England and Lions ace Alex Mitchell.

Mitchell put pen to paper earlier in the season after rejecting an approach from Sale Sharks, while former England under-20 international Jonny Weimann has also been pushing for game time.

Saracens have Charlie Bracken, who was called into an England training squad last summer, but third-choice Gareth Simpson looks set to join runaway Champ leaders Ealing Trailfinders next season.

James has played 10 times for Saints this season, half of them in the PREM Rugby Cup, scoring a try in the win over Newcastle Red Bulls two weeks ago.