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)

Ieuan Jones confirms on Twitter that he's leaving the dragons and joining the blues.

Thankfully the blues have actually signed a replacement for our outgoing 8 (copeland) and have a lot of cover for outgoing 6 (pretorious).

Good for the dregs too, they have Faletau and Talei and they now have freed up, probably, about £30,000 on the wage bill.

Booo

Are you saying Boo or Boourns?

Read somewhere that SOB and Heaslip have been offered E500k a year at Toulon. What was Heaslip on before? Somewhere around 300 wasnt it?

Still all just agent talk though until one of them or the clubs confirms it.

Laidlaw would be a good signing for Bath in my opinion.

He'd be a good signing for anyone, he's class! Couldn't believe he didn't get on Lions tour. He'd certainly have been a better 10 cover than Hogg!

But, we need a top class 9, 10 cover and a great goalkicker, so he would be an ideal signing! Let's hope we can give them Heathcote as they wish and get Laidlaw in return!

Ryan jones signing for Bristol according to wales online.

Westisbest2 wrote:Ryan jones signing for Bristol according to wales online.

Jeebus they are building a bit of a side up there. Two Lions signing for them this summer

I know mate. Wouldn't mind Ryan jones with us to be honest for his experience and leadership. Surprised dragons and blues didn't go in for perineesse, good tighthead. If Bristol don't get promoted, can't see how jones can get called up for team wales next season.

He'll be 34 next season , Surely Shingler will have a priority over him just on age?

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

Westisbest2 wrote:Ryan jones signing for Bristol according to wales online.

Jeebus they are building a bit of a side up there.  Two Lions signing for them this summer

Surely you mean down there?

Big gamble for Bristol and new players if they don't get promoted.

Shingler don't play no8. We don't have a no8 in the squad. I'm not saying I want Ryan jones but I want a no8.

Westisbest2 wrote:Shingler don't play no8. We don't have a no8 in the squad. I'm not saying I want Ryan jones but I want a no8.

Ben Morgan would do a job wouldn't he?

Bathite wrote:

Westisbest2 wrote:Shingler don't play no8. We don't have a no8 in the squad. I'm not saying I want Ryan jones but I want a no8.

Ben Morgan would do a job wouldn't he?

Do you mind?! We've had enough players leave us. Morgan may be out of form, but he's not out of contract until next season; not that it is has stopped him moving before   

Scrumpy wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

Westisbest2 wrote:Ryan jones signing for Bristol according to wales online.

Jeebus they are building a bit of a side up there.  Two Lions signing for them this summer

Surely you mean down there?

Big gamble for Bristol and new players if they don't get promoted.

It is more like almost directly across

But still South, hence down  

It's more North if Cardiff is directly opposite Weston, surely.

Silly move for Jughead, alleged big contract aside.

Scrumpy wrote:But still South, hence down  

Ah it is all relative, and they know all about that in Bristol   

Just heard it's not definite, but a few players are watching this space (particularly with what's going on obviously).

Wouldn't be overly surprised if Bowell was slightly wrong, but not sure how he could just concoct this story, particularly the wage.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

Scrumpy wrote:But still South, hence down  

Ah it is all relative, and they know all about that in Bristol   

Baddoom-cha !

HongKongCherry wrote:

Bathite wrote:

Westisbest2 wrote:Shingler don't play no8. We don't have a no8 in the squad. I'm not saying I want Ryan jones but I want a no8.

Ben Morgan would do a job wouldn't he?

Do you mind?! We've had enough players leave us.  Morgan may be out of form, but he's not out of contract until next season; not that it is has stopped him moving before   

God imagine how all us welsh fans feel   

Sale have confirmed Henry Thomas and James Gaskell are off - unconfirmed but Bath and Wasps are expected to be their destinations.  It seems that Sale can't hold onto their bright young players.
Put Burrell, Wigglesworth, Foden, Fernandez Lobbe, etc back in the squad and we would have a half decent team.
Newcastle seem to have the same problem attracting and keeping talent - they also have a fair few players playing "down south" for other teams.  Anybody would think the North was a grimm place to live!

Just heard on the radio, O'Brien is travelling to Toulon again this week for more negotiations. Hope he doesn't sign.

Westisbest2 wrote:Ryan jones signing for Bristol according to wales online.

Jaw dropping news.
Huge loss to Welsh rugby.

Ieuan Jones has signed for Blues from Gwent Dragons.

He's got Faletau in front of him, and Blues are losing a few backrowers, so I could see it happening. But again it points to the problem of 4 sides - everyone wants a game. As soon as you have depth you have unhappy people sat on the bench

Griff wrote:Ieuan Jones has signed for Blues from Gwent Dragons.

He's got Faletau in front of him, and Blues are losing a few backrowers, so I could see it happening. But again it points to the problem of 4 sides - everyone wants a game. As soon as you have depth you have unhappy people sat on the bench

Rhys Gill left to join Saracens coz he couldn't get game time. Behind Gethin and Yapp I think.

I haven't got a problem with it really. I'm all for players moving between regions to get first team rugby. And it's better that they stay in Wales than move away. But it does make it difficult to build squads and challenge for silverware if you haven't got good options waiting in the wings to cover absence, injury and rotation. The regions then end up a but like the national team where they only have decent first 15s, and then after that they're a bit stuck

@irfurugby
The IRFU is pleased to confirm that @SeanOBrien1987 has signed a new IRFU contract to remain with @leinsterrugby full details later today

Nicely done oireland !

Feckless Rogue wrote:Just heard on the radio, O'Brien is travelling to Toulon again this week for more negotiations. Hope he doesn't sign.

With Joe van Niekerk and Virgile Bruni off at the end of the season, the natural replacements are indeed Heaslip and O'Brien. The reason that Toulon might not sign both is that they would lose both of them during international windows and there is club policy about that. Not that anyone puts that Mourad Jellybaby in a corner.

Edit: Just seen the Tweety about SOB staying with Leinster. Well done to whomever pulled that off. Increases the likelihood of Heaslip going though, I would think.

I would assume this is the lesser of the 2 evils for Leinster and Irish fans. Better keep SOB than Heaslip.

whocares wrote:I would assume this is the lesser of the 2 evils for Leinster and Irish fans. Better keep SOB than Heaslip.

A convincing argument can be made for either one being more valuable to Leinster, Heaslip has a better injury profile, so Leinster would possibly get more games out of him but O'Brien is younger etc.

Either way, delighted that we've got at least one of them. Now to sign up Heaslip, Dave Kearney, Rhys Ruddock and Marin Moore (among others!)

For Ireland only Heaslip likely to leave.

Done a great job regaining players - again !

Dave Kearney worth keeping ? He's like Danny Devito in Twins no ?

munkian wrote:Dave Kearney worth keeping ? He's like Danny Devito in Twins no ?

You mean the funny one?

Dave is a quality player, definitely someone we want to keep hold of.

Sale fans, has James Gaskell finally realized he's too skinny to be an lock?
The Telegraph reported him as a back-rower, has he been playing six?

Gaskell has been playing 6 and 8 for a while now.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-2540810/EXCLUSIVE-Quins-clear-way-Marland-Yarde-Sam-Smith-shown-door.html

Sam Smith and Marlon Yarde to swap clubs, Waldrom to Irish, Pearce to Tigers and Wasps forward to Edinburgh per the article.

How can they claim an 'exclusive' for an article full of possibles and maybes?

geoff999rugby wrote:For Ireland only Heaslip likely to leave.

Done a great job regaining players - again !

if heaslip leaves would that reopen the door for sob at 8 leaving jordi/jennings fighting for 7?

Nah 8 is his worst position (still fairly good though). SOB is a 7 now who can cover the other positions. Murphy at 8 i would imagine and hopefully Conan coming through in the next few years.

Heaf wrote:How can they claim an 'exclusive' for an article full of possibles and maybes?

The bit of the article that the 'exclusive' refers to doesn't have any possibles and maybes. They report as fact that Quins are not renewing Smith's contract, with a view to signing Yarde. Whether that merits the 'exclusive' claim depends entirely on where they got the information. The fact that the signing hasn't actually gone through yet doesn't affect what the Mail is claiming as an exclusive.

Can't believe I just defended the Mail.

littlejohn wrote:

geoff999rugby wrote:For Ireland only Heaslip likely to leave.

Done a great job regaining players - again !

if heaslip leaves would that reopen the door for sob at 8 leaving jordi/jennings fighting for 7?

For all you naysayers hoping Jamie leaves. (bastids) can I direct you to this thread.....

http://forum.leinsterfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=23249

thomh wrote:

Heaf wrote:How can they claim an 'exclusive' for an article full of possibles and maybes?

The bit of the article that the 'exclusive' refers to doesn't have any possibles and maybes. They report as fact that Quins are not renewing Smith's contract, with a view to signing Yarde. Whether that merits the 'exclusive' claim depends entirely on where they got the information. The fact that the signing hasn't actually gone through yet doesn't affect what the Mail is claiming as an exclusive.

Can't believe I just defended the Mail.

I can see what you mean but the headline "EXCLUSIVE: Quins clear the way for Yarde arrival as winger Smith is shown the door" seems to me at least intended to give the impression that the Yarde move is a done deal ... I agree it technically doesn't actually say that but it's implied - I guess it's just them trying to grab attention which I suppose is what a headline is meant to do ... don't like that type of misleading journalism though.

Surely if it's false then the Daily Mail can be sued? For defamation of character etc.

Don't think anything is false as such - just written to make the story sound more than it actually is ...

I see Paul Rees continue to spout his incorrect bile at the Irish

'Wales, and now Ireland, are already struggling to hold on to players, with French clubs already able to offer salaries no one else can match.'

2 Simple questions for this apology of a journalist:

- How many top Irish players have signed to move away in the current season
- How many of the 55 players mentioned in Joe Schmidt's squad (+injured players mentioned) will be playing rugby outside of Ireland next year

He can answer in binary if he likes because 1 and 0 are the only two numbers he will need.
He continues to show how totally clueless he is with respect to understanding the differences between Welsh and Irish rugby

Waldrom to Exeter Chiefs
I'm gutted would have loved him at the Scarlets, exactly the type of 8 we need. I thought Exeter already had a good stock of 8's as well.

Ross Rennie and Stuart Mcinally to Bristol