Savea set for Toulon exit - reports

Rugby World Cup winner Julian Savea could soon be looking for a new club, with French media reporting that Toulon are not planning on offering the former All Black a new contract.

Savea’s current deal is set to expire in the summer, and despite continuing to feature regularly for the Top14 side, a series of underwhelming performances seems to have led the club to the decision that the player is not worth his lucrative wages.

A report in RMC Sport states that Toulon are willing to offload the 54-cap All Black in order to free up some space in their squad.

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Savea joined Toulon from the Hurricanes in 2018, but has failed to make the desired impact at the French club.

After a slow start to his Toulon career, he was on the receiving end of stinging public criticism from outgoing club president Mourad Boudjellal last February, with the outspoken Boudjellal going as far as to say Savea would not play for Toulon again.

“I’m going to ask for a DNA test. They must have swapped him on the plane. If I were him I would apologise and go back to my home country,” Boudjellal told a French radio station.

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“I’ve told him that he was free to go and wasn’t welcome at Toulon anymore.”

Savea, a World Cup winner in 2015, only scored three tries in the Top14 last season in a thoroughly underwhelming campaign which saw Toulon finish ninth in the table.

As a result, the player reportedly agreed to a pay cut in order to remain at the club last summer.

However, at just 29, Savea is likely to have plenty of potential suitors should Toulon decide to let him leave.

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