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Wasps target England fly-half for 2018/19 season
After having left the West Midlands in 2016 for Saracens, Alex Lozowski is reportedly inching closer to a return to Wasps.
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The 24-year-old made the move to North London to chase playing time and escape the shadow of the then-incoming Danny Cipriani at Wasps.
It was a successful move – to a degree – with Lozowski filling in for Owen Farrell at fly-half during international windows, also featuring at full-back and going on to make his England debut in Argentina this past summer. He proved himself a valuable member of Saracens’ squad in their successful bid to retain the Champions Cup and firmly established himself on Eddie Jones’ radar.
That said, Lozowski has yet to oust either Farrell or Alex Goode from their spots in the club’s first-choice XV and it has sparked rumours that he could leave the club at the end of the current season.
The versatile back has reportedly turned down a contract extension from Saracens and though the financial details of the offer are not known, it is possible that with Saracens’ frustrations over renewing their own homegrown talent and staying under the salary cap, Lozowski could garner both more playing time and a larger salary away from North London.
His former club, Wasps, are believed to be front-runners for his signature, with current starting fly-half Danny Cipriani and starting full-back Willie le Roux both out of contract at the end of the 2017/18 season.
The club are keen to sign both players to extensions but with the South African Rugby Union keen to bring le Roux back into the fold and the opportunity for Cipriani to set himself up for life after rugby with a big-money contract in the Top 14, Wasps are understandably keeping their options open.
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Even if both players do re-sign with Wasps, there could be an opportunity for Lozowski to stake a claim at inside centre, with the standout Jimmy Gopperth set to turn 35 at the end of the current season.
The dual-playmaker dynamic has worked well for both Wasps and England over the last couple of seasons and Lozowski could see it as a way to challenge for a spot in the Jones’ Rugby World Cup plans.
Wasps cannot officially engage with Lozowski until January 1st, so there is still time for Saracens to offer the back improved terms or for other clubs to emerge as rivals for his signature, but his departure seems increasingly likely.
Lozowski is a player of the calibre to be a starter at plenty of teams around the league and with salary cap management at the forefront of Saracens’ thoughts, the likes of Max Malins, Tom Whiteley and Alistair Crossdale could all be seen as more cost-effective back-ups to Farrell, making a move away from Allianz Park a distinct possibility.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Unsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
4 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
3 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
3 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
4 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
4 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
200 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
7 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
7 Go to commentsProbably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
200 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
200 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
4 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
200 Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
4 Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
7 Go to commentsHow did it end a draw. South Africa didn’t score any points as far as I can see
7 Go to commentsNo doubt this will be a fantastic occasion and I plan to be there, but I think the bean counters have won out over the rugby brains. In my opinion, it is foolhardy to give the Black Ferns the experience of playing in front of 60,000+ at Twickenham a year before they might be playing there in a World Cup Final. Better to play France at Twickenham and Black Ferns at Kingsholm. The difference in takings would be miniscule.
1 Go to commentsDom kant
200 Go to commentsBen is a little incel desperately trying to stir the pot and stay relevant. We used to get mad at his articles. Now we just feel sorry for him
200 Go to comments