The 5 most intriguing signings as Premiership rugby gears up for its return
With Gallagher Premiership rugby slated to return next month, we face the unusual scenario of seeing a flood of new signings at each of the clubs before the culmination of the 2019/20 season, something which adds an interesting subplot should Covid-19 not derail the current plans for resumption.
Some teams have been bolstered by additions from abroad, others have seen key contributors leave for rivals and a few have been left so desperately short of players that they are currently scrambling for reinforcements in order to finish the season. It’s fair to say that form before the lockdown could count for very little when rugby does finally return next month.
RugbyPass have taken a look at five of the most intriguing signings made by Premiership clubs in 2020 and analyse what they will bring to their new sides over the next few months and into the 2020/21 campaign.
Ratu Naulago (Bristol Bears)
At this point in time, the levels of expectation and excitement for the arrivals of Kyle Sinckler and Semi Radradra at Ashton Gate could not be higher and their signings have understandably hogged the limelight in the south-west. That said, no one should be sleeping on the impact that Naulago could make at Bristol and how well he fits the style that Pat Lam has the Bears playing.
"Guys were messaging each other on Instagram: 'Like bro, I'm hearing you are getting pay cuts'. This is guys from other English clubs and I'm just like, 'Bro I have no f***in' clue'"
– @LimaSopoaga gives @jimhamilton4 his take on Premiership wage cuts ???https://t.co/YO0eicjFb3
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 8, 2020
The Fijian, who serves in the British army, has lit up Super League with Hull FC of late, although he also boasts experience in the 15- and 7-a-side codes. He brings pace and power to the wing and with Bears putting such a premium on their tempo and ability to recycle ball quickly, Naulago is not going to be short of opportunities to test himself in one-on-ones during his stint at the club.
The 29-year-old still has to finish up his commitments in Super League before hopping codes but expect him to make a significant impact once he does arrive in the Premiership.
Josh Hodge (Exeter Chiefs)
If you look at where Exeter have invested their money in recent seasons in terms of giving senior academy contracts to their U18s, it has leant heavily towards bolstering their pack. By snapping up one of English rugby’s brightest young backline talents in Hodge, the club have potentially helped address that imbalance while also maintaining pathways for their own players.
Hodge has been identified by England boss Eddie Jones as a player of particular promise and he already boasts an impressively rounded game in the back three, with counter-attacking, kicking, aerial and defensive skills all present. With Exeter icon Phil Dollman having turned 35 this year and both Stuart Hogg and Jack Nowell frequently away on international duty, Hodge could make a significant impact early in his career at the club.
Whether acting as a playmaker, game manager and second receiving option from full-back, or adding pace and incision to the wing options Exeter can currently call upon, Hodge could swiftly embed himself as a fan favourite in Devon.
Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins)
The old adage goes that forwards win matches and backs decide by how much. Although still largely true, the addition of Esterhuizen should have Quins fans salivating. While Wilco Louw will be crucial to Paul Gustard’s side’s chances of success, he has his hands full simply filling the void left by the departure of British and Irish Lion Sinckler.
Esterhuizen gives Quins that direct, hard-carrying threat outside of Marcus Smith that the young fly-half has not consistently been able to lean on since his rise to the first XV. The duo of Francis Saili (now at Biarritz) and Paul Lasike had their fair share of injury misfortune since arriving in Surrey and the club will be hoping that Esterhuizen can prove more durable over the coming years.
If the South African centre can provide that ability to get over the gain line and quickly recycle, the likes of Smith, Danny Care and the returning Joe Marchant will find themselves with plenty of favourable match-ups in the subsequent phases.
Not the news some Leicester fans wanted to hear https://t.co/HBa9iPpuFS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 8, 2020
Nemani Nadolo (Leicester Tigers)
Leicester need something. Heck, Leicester need anything at the moment and the departures of high-calibre players such as Manu Tuilagi and Telusa Veainu, as a result of the club’s pay reduction dispute, does not help the situation. The arrival of Nadolo could be a lightning rod and catalyst for change that new head coach Steve Borthwick needs to galvanise and begin rebuilding the once-famed Tigers.
The versatile 32-year-old was prolific with the ball in hand during his time at Montpellier and with Tuilagi, Kyle Eastmond and Noel Reid having all been released, the Tigers midfield is a blank canvas for Borthwick to work with. He will have to decide whether he sees Nadolo as a clinical wing or a centre who is able to get Leicester moving forward.
Having shone internationally for Fiji and domestically in both New Zealand and France, this is Nadolo’s opportunity to leave a permanent mark on English rugby. Helping re-energise Tigers and put them back on a path to the top of the club game is as good a way as any to do it.
Nick Isiekwe (Northampton Saints)
Though just a loan move for Isiekwe, who should return to Saracens in 2021 providing they can secure promotion back to the Premiership at the first time of asking, that doesn’t prevent this from being a particularly exciting addition, with the England forward set to join up with Courtney Lawes and Alex Coles at Franklin’s Gardens.
Alongside those two aerially-gifted lineout forwards and the ballast of David Ribbans and Alex Moon, Saints have perhaps the best stock of locks and blindside flankers to call upon in the Premiership. Let’s hope Chris Boyd is a fan of the Pieter-Steph du Toit mould at six and four because he is now swimming in similar style options at the two positions.
With a combination of Isiekwe, Lawes or Coles set to be playing week in, week out in the East Midlands, no opposition lineout will be safe when they go up against Northampton. Saints have added depth and quality to an area they are already strong, something which looks to have them in a good place to continue their tilt for the title.
Restart plans encounter a hitch https://t.co/iTBJWgdmCY
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 8, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Great story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
39 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
39 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
39 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to comments