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Toulon confirm worst kept transfer secret of the season

Maro Itoje, Lewis Ludlam and Jack Walker of England sing the National Anthem during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby match between England and France at Twickenham Stadium on March 11, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Davidson - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images )

Toulon have finally officially confirmed the worst-kept news of last season. They are taking England stars Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam to the Cote d’Azur this summer.

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Bristol Bears tight-head Sinckler, 31, who started his career with Harlequins and has won 69 England caps and another seven for The Lions on two tours, arrives on a three-year deal.

A World Cup finalist in 2019 and a member of Steve Borthwick’s squad that finished third in France last year, he admitted that he was honoured to represent a club as special as Toulon.

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A bitterly disappointed Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White produces a few post-match pearlers

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A bitterly disappointed Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White produces a few post-match pearlers

“I will give the best of myself to represent the Red & Black jersey with dignity. I also want to test myself in the best championship and against the best props every weekend and to be able to contribute to Toulon’s future successes.”

Toulon’s sporting director, Laurent Emmanuelli, added: “Kyle is a player who combines power, skill and explosiveness. He is aware of the consequent challenge that awaits him in Top 14.”

Meanwhile, back-row Ludlam, 28, has also signed a three-year deal fresh from helping Northampton Saints lift the Premiership trophy against Bath at Twickenham.

The 6’3, 111kg Ludlam, who can play anywhere across the back row, was tipped for the Lions tour to Australia. He made 126 appearances for Saints, his only club, and was capped 24 times by England.

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Emmanuelli admitted that Ludlam was a player they had been interested in for some time and are finally glad to have completed the signing.

“Lewis is a player we have been following for some time. Always present at the forefront of the fight, a good defender, able to provide solutions in touch and scratch balls, Lewis is one of the players of character as our supporters love them. “He also has significant leadership qualities since he has been the captain of the Saints for three seasons now.”

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Comments

2 Comments
B
BigMaul 275 days ago

Who was tipping Ludlam for the Lions? No disrespect meant, but he couldn’t even lock down an England place.

K
KiwiSteve 275 days ago

Ben Earl is golden boy. That won't change. Ludlum has done the right thing, got to think of family. The funniest thing is Sinkler. Totally conned the French. Bristol will be laughing to get rid of the 500k money sink. Can't scrummage and very Lazy. Toulon will regret this.

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EllenMoody 4 hours ago
Great moments in Lions tour history – JPR’s drop goal and the All Blacks' brutal revenge

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JWH 5 hours ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

Do you hear yourself? Do you have any concept of world view? Have you tried looking into why people call Ireland ‘arrogant’? Obviously not.


We started calling you arrogant when you called our captain a ‘shit Richie McCaw’. In New Zealand. On our turf. Don’t think that kind of behaviour really calls for respect, does it.


NZ don’t really talk ourselves up, if anything the rugby does it for us. No kiwi goes in the media and says: ‘We are gonna win the RWC’. However, I have found many instance of IRISH media saying that the Irish should win, without a doubt. THAT is disrespectful.


The All Blacks have played good rugby, even some of the best rugby ever, at many points in history, but I don’t think you could find a single instance of one of those players, or the NZ media, saying that they should whitewash their opponents. Ever.


Now, onto your analysis. Ireland DID choke the QF. They beat the champions, they were ranked first coming into it, a lot of players at the peaks of their powers. Its hard to say that they didn’t choke. Obviously, their preparation was just not as good as NZ, and thats all there really is to it.


If Ireland had repsected that ABs team and that QF more, maybe they would’ve prepared properly for it and won. But they didn’t.


Maybe if Ireland had won their QF last RWC, they wouldn’t have to be in the same pool as SA and Scotland. I mean, its called a draw for a reason. NZ got third last RWC, so of course they should get a reasonable pool, and they were ranked pretty highly too. If you want to talk about easy pools, look no further than Pool 3 with England, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia I think?


Now, obviously you don’t remember how that QF ended, so I’ll go ahead and rectify that. Ireland reclaimed the ball off kickoff and marched for 20ish phases into the opposition half. Savea then won a turnover, but the referee refused to give it, so play went on. Finally, at the NZ 22, after not giving up a single penatly in 25 phases of hard defense, Sam Whitelock, the most capped All Black of all time, wins the game with an incredible steal.


Now, NZ players having a go at Ireland. Do you cry when you get hit after making the first swing? We all know Sexton is a prick on the field, its just the truth. And Ioane never backs down from a clash, so he thought he should humble a player who has never won an international knockout game who thought he was all that. Don’t really see the issue, its poetic justice really.

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