Transfers 2014/2015 Season

First topic message reminder :

Well silly season is almost upon us so thought I would keep tabs on the comings and goings.  Will put the confirmed transfers, unconfirmed transfers (rumours) and out of contract players into various columns.  Please post any news or rumours and I will keep the original post updated.

Confirmed
Jon Davies (Scarlets) to Clermont
Regan King (Clermont) to Scarlets
Ian Evans (Ospreys) to Toulon
John Afoa (Ulster) to Gloucester
Rory Kockott (Castres) to Toulon (reportedly trying to cancel deal to stay at Castres)
Richard Hibbard (Ospreys) to Gloucester
Mamuka Gorgodze (Montpellier) to Toulon
Sebastien Vahaamahina (Perpignan) to Clermont
Guilhem Guirado (Perpignan) to Toulon
Robin Copeland (Blues) to Munster
Armitev (Northampton) to Russia (unconfirmed club)
Qera (Gloucester) to Toulouse
Casey Laulala (Munster to France (Club unconfirmed but thought to be Racing Metro)
Tom Court (Ulster) to London Irish
Andre Pretorius (Blues) to Worcester
Zac Guildford (New Zealand) to Clermont
Sivivatu (Clermont) to Castres
Aled Brew (Biarritz) to Dragons
Lee Byrne (Clermont) to Dragons
Dwayne Peel (Sale) to Bristol
Thomas Waldrom (Leicester) to Exeter
Dan Evans (Dragons) to Ospreys
Ieuan Jones (Dragons) to Blues
Jean-Philippe Genevois (Biarritz) to Perpignan
Benoit Cabello (Clermont) to Perpignan
Sakiusa Matadigo (Racing) to Perpignan
Jonathan Wisniewski (Racing) to Grenoble
Leigh Halfpenny (Blues) to Toulon
Josh Turnbull (Scarlets) to Blues
Nick Abendanon (Bath) to Clermont
Anthony Perenise (Bath) to Bristol
Craig Mitchell (Exeter) to Blues
Hoani Tui (Exeter) to Lyon
Tavis Knoyle (Gloucester) to Blues
Marland Yarde (London Irish) to Harlequins
Neil Cochrane (Wasps) to Edinburgh
Henry Thomas (Sale) to Bath
Josh Matavesi (Worcester) to Ospreys
Nick Auterac (Saracens) to Bath
Boris Stankovich (Leicester) to Dragons
Bradley Davies (Blues) to London Wasps
Moray Low (Glasgow) to Exeter
Chris Cussiter (Glasgow) to Sale
Matt Stevens (Saracens) to Sharks
Sam Smith (Harlequins) to Worcester
James Gaskell (Sale) to Wasps


Unconfirmed
Martin Moore (Leinster) to France
Freddie Burns (Gloucester) to Leicester
Matthew Morgan (Ospreys) to Leicester/Northampton/Dragons
Toby Flood (Leicester) to Toulon/Toulouse
Niki Genova (Leicester) to Castres
Jim Hamilton (Montpellier) to Japan
Anthony Allen (Leicester) to Leinster
Lote Tuquiri (Leinster) to Connacht
Johnnie Beattie (Montpellier) to Castres
Brice Dulin (Castres) to Racing Metro
Antonie Claassen (Castres) to Racing Metro
Eion Griffin (Connacht) to London Irish
Gavin Henson (Bath) to Dragons



Out of Contract
Adam Jones (Ospreys)
Keith Earls (Munster)
Rob Hawkins (Leicester)
Louis Deacon (Leicester)
Daniel Bowden (Leicester)
Scott Hamilton (Leicester)



Retiring
Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster)
Andrew Sheridan (Toulon - unconfirmed)
Steve Borthwick (Saracens)
Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon) - might be playing on for another season.
Sebastien Bruno (Toulon)
George Chuter (Leicester) moving to Worcester coaching
Johann Muller (Ulster)
Mike Tindall (Gloucester - unconfirmed)
Ian Gough (London Irish - unconfirmed)
Will James (Gloucester)

doctor_grey wrote:

yappysnap wrote:If Waldrom leaves Tigers who would have him??

Someone with a lot of food.

Be careful with the sarcasm there doctor, last year I made a flippant remark about Andy 'likes his pies' Goode and a couple of days later the story broke about Saints being linked to him in the rugby press.

Toby flood ---> Toulose

According to RMC.

Best of luck to him if true, hope he plays well over there.


So replacements Priestland, Burns, and some nz era apparently lined up tigers fans seem to think Slade maybe one of them. (Dont know to much about him any good)

Slade is pretty similar to Flood, seems to be more injury prone though

Welly wrote:Toby flood ---> Toulose

According to RMC.

Best of luck to him if true, hope he plays well over there.


So replacements Priestland, Burns, and some nz era apparently lined up tigers fans seem to think Slade maybe one of them. (Dont know to much about him any good)

Henry Slade has loads of potential - Eng U20 flyhalf last year that guided them to the JWC. Cultured left boot with long range off both tee and out of hand, great distributor of ball of both hands, balanced runner with ball in hand, probably could do with learning to threaten defences a little more on his own, but I would be v v v surprised if he left Exe (and all his pals, Nowell, Hill, LCD, Ewers, etc.)

 Midi Olympique are reporting that Lyon are targetting the Big H, Hoani Tui  

Dubbelyew L Overate wrote: Midi Olympique are reporting that Lyon are targetting the Big H, Hoani Tui  

Disgraceful, hands off! Would totally understand if he wants a pension top-up tho

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/10527607/Leicester-Tigers-admit-interest-in-signing-Rhys-Priestland-as-possible-replacement-for-Toby-Flood.html

Interesting to see what happens if Wilko stays for another year, presumably this whole chain will fall through.

Wrong Slade. Colin Slade the injury plagued 26 year old All Black is considered to have the all round ability to drive Tigers forward and mentor through Owen Williams and the academy 10s (last years stand out Olly Bryant and this years more reliable kicker Hargreaves).

Bathman, Flood is rumoured to have signed for Tolouse not Toulon.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Wrong Slade. Colin Slade the injury plagued 26 year old All Black is considered to have the all round ability to drive Tigers forward and mentor through Owen Williams and the academy 10s (last years stand out Olly Bryant and this years more reliable kicker Hargreaves).

Bathman, Flood is rumoured to have signed for Tolouse not Toulon.

Phew! Thanks Sam

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Dubbelyew L Overate wrote: Midi Olympique are reporting that Lyon are targetting the Big H, Hoani Tui  

Disgraceful, hands off!  Would totally understand if he wants a pension top-up tho

and a gastronomic adventure for him.

We have Williams developing nicely two good young academy 10s so signing Henry Slade would leave us with only Lamb having any level of experience. That would not be desirable. Tigers are after a 10 with experience we've also been linked to the barely pronouncable Racing Metro 10 as well as Priestland and Burns.

Personally Burns and Priestland would both worry me. Neither kick as well as Flood and neither are anywhere as consistent despite their considerable attack talents.

Jonathan Wisniewski (racing fh) would be a good signing. Not spectacular but one of the most consistent 10 in the top14 for a while. He's looking for game time so could well leave the club. Plus tigers have a good habit to improve any frenchman they sign so even better from a french POV!

Wisniewski would be a good signing, we do like signing a couple of French players.
Wish we Still had Kayser and Dupuy at times though. Kayser in particular is looking really good.

Wisniewski would be my choice. At 28 he has plenty of experience, has matured as a player and he is also a reliable kicker. Could be ideal as a mentor for Williams and the academy boys. Only concern is that he isn't the biggest where as Flood is 6 foot 2, over 14 stone and misses very few tackles. We can work around that, especially if Allen or Pohe is at 12.

George Carlin wrote:Dan Parks to Toulouse - unconfirmed rumour.

  

Apparently Clermont are doing everything possible to sign Zac Guildford from the Crusaders - makes St Leigh of Lilliput's move there even less likely.

Ryan Lamb to Worcester. Tigers rumoured to not be keen on Priestland following discussions with his representatives. Wasps and Glaws are his likely destinations now.

Johnny Beattie on a three year deal is rumoured to be all but agreed, so it looks like he'll be at Tigers next season.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Ryan Lamb to Worcester. Tigers rumoured to not be keen on Priestland following discussions with his representatives. Wasps and Glaws are his likely destinations now.

Johnny Beattie on a three year deal is rumoured to be all but agreed, so it looks like he'll be at Tigers next season.

I'd be amazed if that's true given the manner of Lamb's last season at Glaws under Dean Ryan as there certainly doesn't seem to be any love lost between them.

It might be that both parties need each other given their current predicaments.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Ryan Lamb to Worcester. Tigers rumoured to not be keen on Priestland following discussions with his representatives. Wasps and Glaws are his likely destinations now.

Johnny Beattie on a three year deal is rumoured to be all but agreed, so it looks like he'll be at Tigers next season.

Beattie is a good signing. He is coming back into the sort of form that made him one of the best in the NH in 2009/2010 before his shoulder reconstruction. Smart footballer, soft hands, likes a carry and a great linkman.

Carlin Isles has gone to an American football team apparently.

Detroit Lions have signed him.

Some talk that Gareth Anscombe (Chiefs 15/10) is being lined up by Newcastle. More speculation that anything else.

That would be quite a signing for Newcastle if thats trye.

It's on the offy at the moment in the 10s article. 

I can kind of see it happening with Russ having a big pull with Kiwi backs. But at the moment it's pure talk.

He's an average playmaker but a brilliant kicker in all regards. Has got all the physical attributes you'd want to see. Needs to develop a bit more but he's learning from Cruden at the minute and that's a benefit. Odd he'd choose to leave so close to the RWC.

Ryan jones and lee byrne to dragons robin davey reporting

Ryan Jones won't happen (in my opinion). Think Davey is really only speculating on that.

Talk of heaslip to toulon

Burns to Tigers is apparently a done deal.

Toulon have already agreed to sign Gorgodze from Montpellier this summer and allegedly JOC from LI. Despite regular press reports to the contrary Toulon don't spend more than they need too. Those signings cover Wilko and Van Niekerk I don't think they are looking to replace anyone else.

Chris Masoe may retire at the end of season.

That's interesting. Heaslip and SOB have both been linked to Clermont as well and with the Irish selectors continuing to select Sexton despite him being based overseas there's nothing to detract them from making the move for the money.

Any LH or TH out of contract this season?

dragon4life wrote:Any LH or TH out of contract this season?

If I was Euan Murray, I would be looking to leave Wuss but similarly he's 33 now, so you'd have to figure it would be his last move in the top flight.
 
Interestingly, James O'Connor has been in the Kiwi rugby press saying that Bernie TheDoor was premature in saying that the Toulon move is done and dusted and that he is still considering his options. His problem comes from the fact that MacKenzie has said he will only choose players for the Wallaby RWC squad where they are playing Super Rugby this forthcoming season.

Rumour going around right now that Heaslip has signed for Toulon for about £400,000 (not sure how many euros that is) a year for 3 years.

Good luck Jamie, I just hope that a lot of the money that Heaslip is on is put towards keeping SOB as I imagine he will have huge offers thrown at him. Leinster seem to have the biggest problem keeping players.

Not confirmed by official sources yet, but it would make sense as there is a lot of talk that Toulon No.8 Chris Masoe is retiring at the end of this season.

A good move for the player if its true financially. Looking at Leinster, I've been impressed by both Murphy and Ruddock this season. I think they would be able to plug that gap as some of the youth coming through in the forwards is impressive and will need game time to develop further. Even with an Irish hat on it's fair to say Heaslip only has one more World cup in him so they would be looking for a successor at some stage after 2015.

In fact, I think Davey is a bit off the mark with the Lee Byrne rumour too.

I would love the Dragons to have a look at Murray if he were available, but I think he'll be a bit in demand for us and also, if our run of games on a Sunday continue (as they are next year), then we won't really benefit. Exactly the prop we need though, but a bit of a dream for us (though I did get a bit excited for a while at the prospect after I saw his age, after a little rumour I heard that isn't worth expanding on really).

Maybe we could have a look at Phil Vickery and see if we can get him to leave whatever club he's at.

Risca Rev wrote:Ryan Jones won't happen (in my opinion). Think Davey is really only speculating on that.

Wouldn't it be good along with Byrne, though still not sort our major problem of T/Head out.

Burns to tigers appears to be a done deal.
Priest land favourite to replace him at Gloucester.

Murray will struggle to get a deal in the AP. He's rarely fit or in form, will demand a decent wage and is about as mobile as the average statue. Someone with a weak scrum like LI might take a gamble on him but I doubt he'll have any hard to refuse offers on the table. France could be an option.

Burns has apparently signed a 3 year deal with Tigers.

If that's true then there'll be a lot of expectation on him now. No more excuses about a dodgy pack etc he needs to do the business week in week out.

Cockerill needs to sit on the naughty step after breaking the rules, or in his words cheating. Burns looks certain to leave; this transfer saga has affected his form enormously, so hopefully with his future secure he'll get back to playing like he should for his final few months here. It'll be interesting to see Tigers take on FB10 aka Brand Burns.

Glaws are being linked to Priestland, Brett, Wisniewski and Goosen. I'd rather keep Burns but there's some good players in that list.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Murray will struggle to get a deal in the AP. He's rarely fit or in form, will demand a decent wage and is about as mobile as the average statue. Someone with a weak scrum like LI might take a gamble on him but I doubt he'll have any hard to refuse offers on the table. France could be an option.

  

Think the Drags would take a punt on a piano at tight head at the mo, as long as it can lock our scrum a bit. Bugger the rest of the game.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Murray will struggle to get a deal in the AP. He's rarely fit or in form, will demand a decent wage and is about as mobile as the average statue. Someone with a weak scrum like LI might take a gamble on him but I doubt he'll have any hard to refuse offers on the table. France could be an option.

Harsh but fair, Sam. If Dragons need a new prop, then young LH Grant Shiells from the Falcons would be an outstanding choice. I'm expecting him to break into the Scotland squad this forthcoming year and Shiells doesn't currently seem to be getting the gametime that his abilities suggest he should.

HKC, Bath weren't allowed to discuss a deal with Ford or Watson until March due to their England under 20 status yet both deals were done by 1st of Jan and we all knew about them. There's nothing stopping discussions with player representatives as long as the player isn't involved until January 1st which is what I assume is happening here.

Personally I'd have preferred Wieneski but I guess Burns is cheaper and that frees up cash to help retain some of our own players and bring in Beattie.

formerly known as Sam wrote:HKC, Bath weren't allowed to discuss a deal with Ford or Watson until March due to their England under 20 status yet both deals were done by 1st of Jan and we all knew about them. There's nothing stopping discussions with player representatives as long as the player isn't involved until January 1st which is what I assume is happening here.

Personally I'd have preferred Wieneski but I guess Burns is cheaper and that frees up cash to help retain some of our own players and bring in Beattie.

Beattie will do nicely for you. Punchy ball carrier, great hands plus a useful jumper at the tail-end. Also plays 6 as well as 8, so covers both Croft and Crane. The only downside is his injury record. No stranger to the treatment table, partly due to the way he plays. A chip off the old block in that regard.

Agreed on Murray. He's a bit of a spent force. I could see him returning to Glasgow if they can't fix Cusack. Can't see anyone wanting to fork out a lot of money for him, and I'd like Johnson to focus on Low and Welsh in the 6 Nations, as Murray isn't reliable (plus there's the Sunday issue which is a problem for Scotland in particular).

HongKongCherry wrote:Cockerill needs to sit on the naughty step after breaking the rules, or in his words cheating. Burns looks certain to leave; this transfer saga has affected his form enormously, so hopefully with his future secure he'll get back to playing like he should for his final few months here. It'll be interesting to see Tigers take on FB10 aka Brand Burns.

Glaws are being linked to Priestland, Brett, Wisniewski and Goosen. I'd rather keep Burns but there's some good players in that list.

I'd certainly be interested to hear from Cockers how this compares to Ford or Twelvetrees. I thought you weren't even allowed to talk to agents until January. Still, from an England point of view I hope it helps turn Burns into the fly half he has the potential to be, if he gets some form back he could be very good behind that tigers pack.

There's a long list of Glaws contract expiries HKC, do you think any of the other young English players will leave? Or will the departure of the likes of Cowan mean they can offer improved deals?

Beattie going to Castres according to latest rumours in France, so I wouldn't be so sure that Leicester have him if I were you.