The market for outside centres to become bloodbath as four English club giants compete for talent
As Gallagher Premiership sides continue to build their squads for the 2019/20 season, it seems the market for outside centres is heating up in English rugby’s top tier competition.
Per RugbyPass sources, Gloucester, Northampton Saints, Saracens and Wasps are all looking for a big-name addition in the 13 jersey, whilst Bristol Bears and Newcastle Falcons are also keen to add to their options at the position.
Fortunately for the clubs involved, there a number of enticing options coming off of contract at the end of the 2018/19 season.
The three biggest names in contract years in the Premiership would be Jonathan Joseph, Manu Tuilagi and Ben Te’o, whilst Wasps have also been heavily mooted to sign former All Black Malakai Fekitoa.
Joseph has already been linked with a lucrative move to Bristol but no matter how impressive the offer, that is a move, if it were to happen, that is unlikely to progress until Bristol show they are more than likely going to avoid the drop to the Greene King IPA Championship this season.
Tuilagi and Te’o have enjoyed profitable deals at Leicester Tigers and Worcester Warriors respectively but have seen their tenures blighted by injury. It will be interesting to see if this affects their clubs’ attitudes towards retention and how their market value sits with the other Premiership clubs.
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Both Joseph and Tuilagi, presumably, retain England ambitions beyond the 2019 Rugby World Cup, so stays in the Premiership make sense for them, but Te’o, who turns 32 this season, could profit from a stint in the Top 14 before eventually hanging up his boots.
Should Joseph and Tuilagi opt to leave their clubs, that would also bring Bath and Leicester into the outside centre market.
Another intriguing name could be Ollie Devoto.
The Exeter Chief signed a three-year deal with he joined from Bath and that contract expires this season. He is built in the mould of the secondary playmakers that have come into vogue at the 13 position following the rises of Henry Slade and Alex Lozowski, but unfortunately injuries have marred his time at Exeter so far.
Two players who may not be ‘stars’ but who have proven they have what it takes at the highest club level, are Saracens’ Nick Tompkins and Newcastle’s Tom Penny.
Tompkins has struggled to break into the regular Saracens XV and with Lozowski seemingly having taken up permanent station there this season, the former England U20 star could be eyeing up first team rugby elsewhere. As for Penny, he’s worked his way ahead of Scotland international Chris Harris at Kingston Park in recent weeks and has been dovetailing nicely with Johnny Williams in the north-east.
Both Tompkins and Penny are in contract years.
Experienced operators like Marcelo Bosch and Olivier Wynand are also in the final seasons of their respective deals and could be short-term solutions for clubs looking to fill out their squads and have them provide mentoring roles for younger players.
The other option for clubs looking to bolster their stocks at 13 or find a potential starter would be to target players currently on senior academy contracts and bring them in before their value skyrockets.
Gabriel Ibitoye is being looked at as a wing by Harlequins and all of his potential suitors, but 13 is a position he is well-acquainted with and could certainly perform at a high standard at in the Premiership.
Ollie Lawrence is already making waves at the senior level, although Worcester Warriors will be keen to lock him up on a long-term senior contract, Saracens’ Dom Morris is ready for more games and Harlequins’ Harry Barlow has plenty of talent, but faces a tough pecking order to climb in the club’s midfield.
In other news: Premiership CEO Mark McCafferty explains the how the new season structure will work.
Comments on RugbyPass
We had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
60 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
60 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
60 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
60 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
60 Go to comments