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Fissler Confidential: Willie le Roux rumours ignite after Bok star spotted
By Neil Fissler
Springbok star Willie le Roux was seen in Bath this week, so does it mean that Johann van Graan is about to end his search for a new full-back or is it pure coincidence?
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The 35-year-old, twice a Rugby World Cup winner, is under contract to the Bulls for another year and is well-travelled having played for Boland Cavaliers Cheetahs, Griquas, Canon Eagles, Sharks, Wasps and Toyota Verblitz.
The 98-cap veteran was spotted in the Roman spa town as he prepares to wait at least seven months to become the eighth South African international to win a century of Test caps.
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Ulster’s former Ireland international scrum-half John Cooney, who is out of contract at the end of the season, could be on the move to a new club in time for the start of 2025/26.
Set to turn 35 next May, Cooney is a firm favourite among the Ravenhill faithful. He is closing in on 150 appearances for the United Rugby Championship outfit but is under pressure from Nathan Doak for his place.
It is understood that Cooney, who played for Leinster and Connacht and has been named in the URC team of the year five times, has spoken to Exeter Chiefs and could be a target for clubs in Japan.
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Racing 92 president Laurent Travers has been closely following Rob Valetini during the Wallabies’ autumn series in Europe after putting a top-class No8 on his shopping list for next season.
The Brumbies 26-year-old is due to win his 51st cap against Scotland on Sunday. However, a potential sticking point to a deal is that he is under contract to Rugby Australia until 2027.
Travers, who is also looking for a big-name winger to replace Montpellier-bound Donovan Taofifenua, is weighing up Valetini but is understood to prefer to sign someone who is JIFF-qualified.
In the market for a big-name scrum-half, Exeter could also need to bring in at least one hooker with Jack Innard and Jack Yeandle both out of contract at the end of the season.
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The 29-year-old, Truro-born Innard, an ex-England U20 who scored two tries in Chiefs’ 2018 Anglo-Welsh Cup win over Bath, joined Exeter in 2013 and had loan spells at Launceston, Cornish Pirates and Plymouth Albion.
He could join his close friend Tom Hendrickson, who left the Chiefs for Hanazono Liners, in Japan while another of his mates, Ed Holmes, plays for Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks.
John Barnes, Hartpury University’s highly rated director of rugby, has been lined up by former club Bristol to become their new academy manager. Barnes spent 10 years working in Bears’ academy before joining Hartpury, turning them into one of the biggest production lines for talent in the country.
He held off a challenge from former London Irish academy chief Patrick O’Grady, now first-team coach at Dorking, who was in the running for the Bristol job after bringing a host of players through in his eight years with the Exiles.
Sale are poised to reveal that Ben Curry is staying at the club after agreeing on a new deal with his current contract set to run out at the end of the season.
The 26-year-old flanker has been capped six times by England, the last coming against the All Blacks earlier this month. He made his club debut for the Sharks against Wasps in 2016 and has made 175 appearances.
The Sharks will also hope to agree on terms with his identical twin Tom, who was one of 17 England players to be offered a £150,000 RFU hybrid contract to keep him at the club.
England scrum-half Ben Spencer, who is in the last year of his contract, is in advanced discussions with Bath about extending his stay at The Rec beyond the end of the season.
The 32-year-old, who is likely to spend the rest of his career with Bath, joined four years ago after a glittering career with Saracens where he won four Premiership titles and three European Cup crowns.
Bath are still to open talks with England centre Ollie Lawrence, another player awarded an enhanced elite player squad deal by the RFU. He is also in the final season of his Rec deal.
Exeter chairman Tony Rowe has admitted that the days of the Sandy Park club being member-owned are numbered after losing almost £18million over the last four years.
Rowe told the Cornish Times that the losses are too big for a member-owned club to sustain. “We do have to look at things. I have already told the members that the club can’t continue as a members club.
“I have bought the hotel off the club, which has enabled the club to keep afloat, but the reality is that beyond this, if we were to have another financial crisis, where is the club going?”
Bayonne have held lengthy talks with Stormers and Springboks scrum-half Herschel Jantjies about joining them when his contract runs out at the end of the season.
The 28-year-old, who was a member of his country’s 2019 World Cup-winning squad, has spoken to the Basque club by video call and looks set to make the move from Cape Town next summer.
Bayonne have been looking for an international scrum half to replace Guillaume Rouet or Maxime Machenaud. Both are in the final year of their contracts and could move on if they do not reach an agreement on new terms.
France winger Teddy Thomas is set to do a U-turn and stay with La Rochelle for the next two seasons, which will disappoint his hometown club Biarritz.
The 31-year-old had been lined up for a return to Olympique, while Bayonne were also interested in signing him, but Actu Rugby have reported that he is set to stay with Ronan O’Gara’s outfit.
The former Racing 92 star has scored five tries in six games after moving to outside centre, which has helped to persuade Les Maritimes that he is worth keeping on the Bay of Biscay for the next couple of years.
Go behind the scenes of both camps during the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021. Binge watch exclusively on RugbyPass TV now
