Former England fly-half Owen Farrell has broken his try duck for new side Racing 92, scoring a brilliantly taken solo effort against Perpignan in Paris.
It was last March when the class of 2023/24 clinched the championship with a win away in France and they followed up that success by securing World Cup glory in July in South Africa.
Kpoku was given a dice roll as an in-camp forfeit and rolling a six meant dying his hair or getting a buzz. The upside was that while in the chair at the barbers, Kolisi, his Racing 92 teammate, checked in on him.
The dramatic thing is, he wasn’t long packing up again in Devon and taking a giant October leap across the Channel. Stuart Lancaster’s Racing 92 had made an offer he couldn’t refuse, especially with a family illness unfolding.
It was ahead of the round two match at home to Wales in Bath when Makepeace-Cubitt came in from the cold of English third-tier rugby to link up with an international squad made up of only Gallagher Premiership youngsters and the Racing 92-attached Junior Kpoku.
It was winter 2021 when the ex-England U20s lock quit Saracens for a leap into the unknown, a lockdown flight out of London into Lyon where nothing was guaranteed.
The senior-level restriction hasn’t affected the 18-year Kpoku who has been popping across the Channel this winter from Paris to win his place in Mark Mapletoft’s age-grade starting line-up.
One-time England prospect Joel Kpoku can’t wait to tackle Springboks talisman Eben Etzebeth when their paths cross in this Friday night’s European Challenge Cup final between Lyon and Toulon in Marseille.
Highly rated former England U20s lock Joel Kpoku has snubbed a move to Northampton Saints in favour of re-signing for Saracens, meaning the young lock will play Championship Rugby next year.
Northampton Saints have carried off a significant coup in nailing down the signing of highly-rated Saracens secondrow Joel Kpoku - RugbyPass has learned.