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It has taken cross-coder Semi Radradra no time at all to win over hearts and minds at Top 14 giants Toulon.
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The former NRL star has made a seamless transition back to the 15-player game after scoring 82 tries in 94 rugby league matches for Parramatta Eels.
He has formed a strong partnership with another new arrival at Toulon, Chris Ashton. The ex-Saracen has his team-mate to thank for several of the 11 touchdowns he has scored already this season.
And the club missed his impact during the weekend’s 20-19 loss at Castres, their third defeat in a row.
In fact, it seems that Radradra’s rare talent is already been coveted elsewhere in the French top flight, with Bordeaux reportedly working hard to tempt the 25-year-old former Parramatta Eel from one French coast to another.
Delegations from ambitious Bordeaux have reportedly been in touch with Radradra’s agents for several weeks, according to French rugby newspaper Midi Olympique, which says the Atlantic coast club is prepared to beat the player’s Toulon salary to pry him out of Mourad Boudjellal’s arms.
Radradra, the newspaper notes, has long preferred short-term contracts. At the Eels, he would commit to 12-month deals and his move to Toulon is on a one-year plus one-year option agreement.
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The flying back was originally keen to take up the one-year option, Midi Olympique notes, but added that Bordeaux’s big-money bid could yet change his mind. It claims that Radradra recently headed to the Gironde, on the west coast of France, to meet president Laurent Marti and the club’s technical staff.
If Midol’s reports are true, it would be another blow for Toulon. They recently agreed to let summer arrival Luke McAlister join Clermont as a medical joker, while Italian fullback Edoardo Padovani has reportedly demanded an early release from his contract after seeing little gametime in the opening rounds of the season.
Selon midol, Semi Radradra pourrait signer à l’@UBBrugby la saison prochaine. #RCT #Toulon #Top14 pic.twitter.com/vHWh8JgW1n
— Johan Rouquet (@JohanRouquet) November 26, 2017
