Scotland star eyeing Gallagher PREM as French exit looms

Jonny Gray’s CV is doing the rounds of PREM Rugby clubs, with his contract with Top 14 outfit Bordeaux due to run out at the end of the season.

The Scotland international lock, 31, who came off the bench in the Top 14 final defeat to Toulouse last season and has appeared in three games that they have played so far this season.

According to a report in Midi Olympique, he is set to meet with Bordeaux bosses in the near future to discuss their plans for next season, but indications suggest he is likely to head towards the exit door.

Gray, who started his career with an eight-year stint at Glasgow Warriors, then moved on to Exeter Chiefs for another four years before linking up with Bordeaux at the start of last season to strengthen their second row.

He has proved that he is fully recovered from the damage to his kneecap that he suffered in the 2023 Champions Cup semi-final loss to La Rochelle, which caused him to spend the next 15 months on the sidelines.

Scotland boss Gregor Townsend recalled him to his squad in January after two years in the international wilderness, playing in four of their five Six Nations games, and taking his tally of caps to 81.

Gray has enjoyed success wherever he has gone throughout his career, winning the Pro12 final with Glasgow in 2015. He added a Champions Cup and Premiership double in his first full season at the Chiefs.

It’s not the first time he has been linked with a move to the PREM. In December 2017, he rejected a move to Bristol Bears in favour of penning a three-year deal to stay with the Warriors.

He was eventually lured south of the border to move to Sandy Park, where he linked up with fellow Scotland internationals Stuart Hogg, Sam Skinner and Sam Hidalgo-Clyne in Rob Baxter’s squad.