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Jonny Wilkinson: Expected to
sign after Toulon's next game
Photo: Michael Paler |
England
World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson has held further discussions with French Top
14 side Toulon this week.
Wilkinson, 29,
has been
the subject of a season-long courtship from Toulon and now
appears on the brink of confirming his imminent move.
Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal is
desperate to complete the signing of one of rugby’s highest-profile players,
but is willing to wait until the club has confirmed its Top 14 status,
according to French newspaper L’Equipe.
That means Wilkinson’s proposed
transfer from Newcastle Falcons is now not expected to be officially
announced before May 8th, when Toulon travel to Dax in a match
that would see them finally guarantee their safety should they win.
Boudjellal is reported to be ready to
pay Wilkinson between €800,000 - €1m per season. But the world’s leading
international points-scorer will have to pass a rigorous medical to seal the
lucrative switch.
Wilkinson, who speaks French, has not
played a competitive game since dislocating his kneecap on September 30th.
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Top 14 Transfers
Perpignan’s Scottish scrum-half
Chris Cusiter could become the club’s second representative on the
British and Irish Lions’ forthcoming tour of South Africa.
Cusiter’s hopes of
joining club and national colleague Nathan Hines
rest on being selected as the replacement for injured Irish scrum-half
Thomas O’Leary, who broke his ankle while playing for Munster in a Magners
League match against the Scarlets on Friday.
Cusiter, who has overtaken Scottish
captain Mike Blair in the pecking order, is thought to be in the frame with
two other possibles – Sale’s Dwayne Peel and Harlequins’ Danny Care. An
announcement is expected soon.
One future French-based player
definitely not going is England flanker James Haskell – who was
dropped to the bench for his last game with London Wasps. The 24-year-old
now has now readjusted his sights on England’s summer tour of Argentina
after admitting the last six months had been “very, very difficult”
following his decision to sign for Stade Francais in Top 14 next season.
“I don’t regret my decision to sign for
Stade, but it did turn my season,” he admitted. “It was a massive decision –
it must have been a distraction.”
Haskell, 24, lost both his national and
club starting places in the wake of his announcement, but is hoping next
season in France will herald a fresh beginning.
“At times I have been a little bit
taken aback by the criticism,” he conceded. “No one of my age has ever made
this decision, so it’s a bit galling for people to say it’s a bad one. But I
don’t resent people’s criticism. The only thing I resent is that I have not
played well enough to get selected,” he reflected.
If Haskell is selected by Martin
Johnson he could also be joined in South America by Brive’s World Cup
winning hooker Steve Thompson.
The 30-year-old has been in fine form
for Brive this year after recovering full fitness and would dearly love to
resurrect an international career that has already earned him 47 caps.
Not such good news for Castres’ scrum-half Sebastien Tillous-Borde
though, who now looks likely to miss France’s summer tour of Australia and
New Zealand.
Tillous-Borde, capped four times,
sustained a serious knee injury during his club’s 21-16 defeat by Stade
Francais on Friday and is set to be out for at least five weeks.
France play the All Blacks in Dunedin
on June 13 and in Wellington on June 20, before moving on to play Australia
in Sydney on June 27.
Top 14 newcomers Racing Metro 92
– who
sealed their promotion at the weekend – have confirmed that Agen
flanker Fabrice Culine has signed a pre-contract to join until 2011.
Culine’s arrival is the first of many
planned by president Jacky Lorenzetti, with high-profile names such as
Sebastien Chabal, Lionel Nallet and Francois Steyn expected to also be
confirmed this week.
Lorenzetti has said 30% Racing’s squad
next season will be comprised of new players, claiming the club’s estimated
budget of between €15-16m will put it in the top six bracket – in terms of
spending.
Bourgoin president René Flamand
has sought to reassure fans that the club’s finances are in order and that
it can ‘validate’ this year’s budget to the satisfaction of the DNACG.
The league’s financial watchdog
recently
said Bourgoin needed to find €2m quick-sharp to balance its books
for the season, with the threat of punishment (including possible
relegation) looming if they failed to do so.
But Bourgoin – who play Worcester
Warriors in the semi-final of the European Challenge Cup this weekend – have
released a statement claiming they are confident that all conditions will be
met.
“With the commitment of the
Municipality of Bourgoin-Jallieu and local government, René Flamand,
president of the club, will be able to promptly submit all financial
guarantees and assurances required for closure of the 2008/09 season,” said
the statement.
The
DNACG had ordered Bourgoin to find an initial €900,000 by April 30, while
further seeking assurances that it could cover a projected season’s deficit
of €2m. But this week Flamand said the situation was now under control.
“This problem is completely covered by local and other revenues that have
been mobilized,” he said confidently. “I don’t want to say any more about it
yet but I will say that the mayor of Bourgoin-Jallieu keeps his promises,”
he told Midi Olympique.
Flamand
said the club's sustainability had been safeguarded for 2008/09 "for sure"
but did warn "this is not the same for 2009/10, but we still have time for
that". He went on to thank the town's mayor Alain Cottalorda for his support
and urged him to continue. "This club brings a lot to this small town, it is
a vehicle of communication," he added.
Elsewhere, Toulon's former All Blacks prop Saimone Taumoepeau has
signed a contract extension, while wannabe All Black Sonny Bill Williams
has confirmed he is set to make his boxing debut.
The
controversial rugby league convert will fulfill a lifetime ambition when he
takes to the ring in Brisbane on May 27 in support of the 'KO to Drugs'
charity.
Williams
was in the corner of Kiwi boxer Maselino Masoe - brother of Castres' former
All Black Chris Masoe - when he fought (and lost) in Germany at the weekend.
He will travel Down Under at the completion of the current Top 14 season,
and is also due to represent the Barbarians when they take on the Wallabies
in Sydney.
"My
priority is keeping Toulon in the Top 14, the boxing comes second in my
head," he told L'Equipe. Williams has been sparring as part of his training
in France recently and said he was excited about his forthcoming four-round
heavyweight bout. "When I was young there were two things I liked - rugby
league and boxing," he added.
