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Fissler Confidential: Tom Wright to kiss goodbye to Aussie rugby?
By Neil Fissler
Explosive Wallaby star Tom Wright, who is now in the final year of his current contract with Rugby Australia and who is yet to agree to a new deal, has been linked with a move to the Premiership.
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Wright, 27, who can play full-back, wing and inside centre, has scored ten tries in 37 appearances for his country, including a hat-trick against Wales in November and keeping him two years ago was a big win for Rugby Australia.
Hailed by Eddie Jones as the best full-back in the world, he switched codes in 2019 after leaving Manly Sea Eagles and has said he would like to return to the NRL is being considered by Saracens, Exeter Chiefs and Gloucester.
Sale Sharks have made a move to keep England scrum-half Raffi Quirke after RugbyPass revealed that Exeter Chiefs had offered him a contract to make the switch to Devon next season.
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Fissler Confidential understands that the Sharks were dragging their heels until the Chiefs interest was made public, and they have now moved to keep him in the North-West but have had to dig deep to match the money on offer elsewhere.
Quirke, 23, who was on Harlequins’ wanted list if they needed to replace Danny Care, was offered around £200,000, almost double his current salary, to leave the Sharks but is now expected to confirm he is staying.
Gloucester are still looking to recruit players for next season, with whispers coming out of Exeter are that they have been sniffing around Jacques Vermeulen, who had play anywhere across the back row.
The former Sharks star, 29, who is out of contract at the end of the season, has been linked with a move to Toyota Verblitz in Japan Rugby League One after being blocked from switching his international allegiance to England.
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It is understood that the Cherry and Whites have wrapped up a move for Harlequins outside centre Will Joseph, who has scored three tries in six appearances this season but needs to get his career back on track.
Bristol Bears are believed to be working on a deal that will see them keep on-loan fly-half Harry Byrne at Ashton Gate at least until the end of the current season.
Byrne, 25, who made four appearances for Leinster this season, is due to make his fifth for the Bears when they face Ampthill in the Premiership Cup after signing up for three months as injury cover for knee injury victim AJ MacGinty.
The Bears will be without Max Malins, who ruptured an Achilles tendon in December, for the rest of the season and have asked about Byrne staying after he impressed in his first month in the West Country.
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The Stormers are preparing a contract offer to keep out of favour Springbok hooker Joseph Dweba in Cape Town beyond his contract running out at the end of the season.
Dweba, 29, started his career with the Cheetahs and joined the Stormers in 2022 after two seasons in France with Bordeaux and made his 50th appearance for John Dobson’s side against Toulon in December.
He rejected a lucrative move to Sale Sharks last summer and has been linked with clubs in Japan and France but is now waiting to see what Dobson puts on the table when he makes him his offer to stay.
Northampton Saints are looking to sign a new loosehead for next season as they expect to lose former England under-20 international Tarek Haffar when his contract runs out at the end of the season.
Fissler Confidential reported in December that the Tigers were poised to move for Haffar, who is named to start for Saints at Welford Road in the Premiership Cup this weekend, and Saints team-mate Tom Seabrook.
Former England under-20 star Haffar moved to Franklins Gardens after London Irish went out of business and has played 12 games, scoring a try in the defeat against Harlequins last weekend.
Trouble is brewing in France after it was reported that Samoan-born Japanese back-rower Tevita Tatafu had agreed to extend his contract with Bayonne until the summer of 2030.
Tatafu, who is under contract until the summer of 2026, has an exit clause from the final 12 months of his deal, and that is where his problems started with his former club, Bordeaux-Bègles, claiming they had an agreement to sign him.
It would appear that he initiated a pre-contract agreement with Bordeaux last September, and they aren’t backing down. He could have to pay substantial compensation, with a year’s salary being the normal amount mentioned.
Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh believes that a decision on whether Joe Schmidt will remain the Wallabies boss beyond the Lions tour this summer will be made before the start of the Super Rugby season in two weeks.
Waugh told the Daily Telegraph in Sydney that they had been hoping to have heard by the end of last year but now thinks that an announcement is imminent.
“We’re hopeful we’ll be able to share a position reasonably soon. We’re really excited about what Super Rugby is going to deliver this year, and we don’t want to distract from the start of Super Rugby on February 14,” said Waugh.
Gloucester are poised to make a move for Cornish Pirates No.8 Hugh Bokenham after his man-of-the-match performance against them in the Premiership Cup on Friday night.
The Cherry and Whites coaching staff used the game to run the rule over the 23-year-old Australian, who has been lined up to replace Zach Mercer, who is moving to Toulon at the end of the season.
Bokenham, who played for Sydney University and NSW Waratahs in his native Australia before moving to Cornwall, has played 16 games for the Pirates this season and has scored five tries.
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