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Zach Mercer, Billy Vunipola again linked with Top 14 moves – report
Out-of-favour England No8s Zach Mercer and Billy Vunipola have both again been linked with transfers to the Top 14 for the 2024/25 season. Mercer, the French league’s player of the year in 2022 when Montpellier were crowned champions, hasn’t been able to get a lasting look-in with Steve Borthwick’s Test set-up after he was initially convinced to return to the Gallagher Premiership by Eddie Jones to try for the Rugby World Cup squad.
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Jones had twice capped Mercer when he was at Bath before his switch to Montpellier but the Australian’s sacking in December 2022 hampered Mercer’s Test recall chances and his only Borthwick selection was for a couple of weeks of training last June before the official World Cup training squad was named.
He has been surplus to international requirements since then and has now been touted for a switch to Toulon if the stumbling block of a hefty compensation fee for Gloucester, with whom he signed a long-term deal, is sorted out.
Vunipola, meanwhile, was chosen for the World Cup by Borthwick but has been excluded for the current Guinness Six Nations campaign and it is now being reported that he is allegedly set for talks in the coming days with Montpellier.
A Midi Olympique report read: “Still barred from the national team, Zach Mercer is wondering about his future across the Channel and thinks of returning to France. RCT are said to be very interested, but his club Gloucester are asking for hefty compensation.
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“According to our information, the Englishman’s CV has been circulated in several Top 14 clubs. The Montpellier club would have sounded him out for a possible return, but the player would not have followed up on this request. The RCT is also said to have shown strong interest in Mercer, to the point of making him a good offer.
“Problem? When he signed with the Cherry and Whites, Mercer signed a long-term, three- or four-year contract. That’s why Gloucester are asking for the tidy sum of €1million to release their back-row who, as he did at Montpellier, is putting in a string of top-flight performances with Gloucester, who are still in a disappointing second-to-last place in the Premiership.
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“For its part, Montpellier is also continuing its recruitment campaign. After failing to sign Australian XIII star Joey Manu and Scottish centre Huw Jones, who eventually extended his contract with his Glasgow club, the Herault club are looking to strengthen its back row.
“In this sense, the CV of another Englishman, Saracens player Billy Vunipola would be of great interest to Montpellier scouts. According to our information, a meeting between the two parties could take place in the coming days.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments