When you have got international captains making midseason switches you know the rugby transfer market is in a frenzied state.
Free agents from Wasps and Worcester Warriors continued to get snapped up after both clubs went into administration and made their entire playing squads redundant meaning there has never been more free agents on the rugby transfer market.
As injuries bite around the Premiership, directors of rugby are moving to fill the holes in their squads with the quality players who find themselves out of work.
Here are all the latest confirmed transfers, rumours and contract renewals from around the Gallagher Premiership....
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Leicester Tigers linked with Exiles ace
Defending Premiership champions Leicester Tigers are interested in signing London Irish star winger Ben Loader according to the latest reports.
Loader is in the final year of his contract at the Brentford-based club and with Chris Ashton now 35, Anthony Watson only on a one-year deal at Welford Road and Fijian giant Nemani Nadolo leaving Leicester for Australia this winter, Tigers are in the market for some additional options out wide according to The Rugby Paper.
Loader has scored 23 tries in 59 appearances for Irish, including a hat-trick earlier this season against Bath.
Dan Biggar switches Saints for Toulon
Northampton Saints have confirmed that Wales star Dan Biggar will depart the club with immediate effect, at the fly-half’s request to join Toulon.
The club announced earlier this month that the 33-year-old Wales international would be leaving cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens at the end of the 2022/23 campaign, but Biggar now joins French Top14 side RC Toulon effective from the start of November.
He pulled on the Black, Green and Gold jersey 69 times, scoring 614 points in total, with his last game for Saints coming in Northampton’s 40-36 win over Wasps.
Saints’ Chief Executive, Mark Darbon, explained: “Given the circumstances – with Dan’s contract ending at the end of the season, his availability for the rest of the current campaign, the multi-year offer to Dan from Toulon which was contingent on him moving immediately, and the quality of the up-and-coming fly-halves already at the Club – we wanted to be pragmatic when Dan approached us.
“Dan’s not just a world-class player, he’s also one of the nicest blokes you could meet. He’s someone who always did everything he could to help the Club, on and off the pitch. So, we’ll miss him, but he departs with our very best wishes.”
Bath agree deal for Russian international
Bath Rugby have agreed a deal for the rest of the season with the final man of the quartet of players the club initially signed from Worcester Warriors on short-term loan arrangements.
Front rower Valeriy Morozov has signed for the remainder of the 2022/23 campaign, joining flanker Ted Hill, centre Ollie Lawrence and back five forward Fergus Lee-Warner in agreeing extensions to their original deals.
Mills move to Manchester
Former Worcester and Wasps centre Ryan Mills has signed a contract until the end of the season with Sale
Sale Sharks have signed experienced centre Ryan Mills on a short-term deal until the end of the current Gallagher Premiership season.
The versatile 30-year-old, who can also play at fly-half, joins Alex Sanderson’s squad immediately following his release from Wasps.
Sharks director of rugby Sanderson said: “Ryan has proven Premiership quality but injuries have held him back in the last couple of years. He offers cover in an area where we are a bit short and we’re really looking forward to seeing what he can add to the squad for the rest of the season.
“He’s looked sharp in training and he’s really impressed us with his leadership skills so far too, so I’m sure he’ll be a fantastic influence on some of the younger players we have at the club on and off the pitch.”
Saracens snap up Warriors scrum half
Former Worcester Warriors scrum half Gareth Simpson is set to make his Saracens debut after joining earlier the club earlier this week on a two-week loan as cover for the injured Aled Davies as well as Ruben de Haas who is on international duty.
Simpson, 24, has had quiet the rugby education having played in the Currie Cup for Sharks in his native South Africa and also had a stint playing for Wellington in the Mitre 10 Cup in New Zealand before he moved to England.
Exeter Chiefs linked with swoop for pair of Wasps youngsters
Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter is looking to bolster his squad with two more out of work Wasps players as he has one eye on the future.
Chiefs have already snapped up Taunton-born hooker Dan Frost to provide front row cover and now The Rugby Paper reports Exeter have moved to add young second row Alfie Bell and utility back Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Jack Willis' agent working around the clock as Northampton join the race to sign him
Another great club of English rugby have been linked with interest in signing England international flanker Jack Willis.
Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam and Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick are both big fans of the turnover specialist who is a free agent after Wasps went into administration last month, making 167 members of staff redundant, but both are understood to be struggling to fit the star man into their squads under the £5m salary cap.
French Top 14 giants Toulouse are also reported to be interested in the 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership Player of the Season and now The Rugby Paper reports that Northampton Saints are keen to add Willis to their ranks in what could be an appealing move for the 25-year-old as he would be able to join the club without needing to relocate his young family.
Wasps full-back makes Italian switch
Italian international back Matteo Minozzi has agree to join United Rugby Championship side Benetton Treviso until the end of June 2023 with an option to extend through to summer 2025.
Minozzi, who injured his hamstring on the opening day of the Premiership season against Gloucester, has 25 caps to his name.
Benetton's general manager Antonio Pavenello, said: “Minozzi’s opportunity arises from the failure of the Wasps.
“At that point, we immediately moved in order to bring to Treviso a player who is an expression of the Italian movement, a player with qualities that are not easily found in other Italian backs. Matteo will have the opportunity to get back into the game at a club that will certainly support him in this process and we hope that he will be able to give the team that extra something to finalize what has been built ”
Leicester Tigers sign emerging star fly-half
Leicester Tigers have confirmed the signing of 21-year-old fly-half star in the making Charlie Atkinson on a long-term deal from Wasps.
Born in Oxford, Atkinson was educated at Abingdon School and enjoyed a decorated age-grade career with appearances for England at Under-18 and Under-20 level while a member of the Wasps Academy.
Atkinson was a team-mate of Jack van Poortvliet’s in the England Under-20 squad which completed a grand slam in the 2021 Six Nations.
Ahead of the 2021/22 season, Atkinson was promoted to the Wasps first team squad after having already appeared in Gallagher Premiership, Premiership Rugby Cup and Heineken Champions Cup fixtures for the club.
The fly-half, who also plays full-back and is a capable goal-kicker, was included in England’s training squad in Jersey last week ahead of the national side’s 2022 Autumn Test matches.
Bristol snap up Worcester Warriors back
Bristol Bears have added another former Worcester Warriors player to their ranks with the signing of versatile young back Noah Heward on a two-year contract.
Heward, who came through the ranks at Sixways, can play on either winger or at full-back and has made three substitute Premiership appearances for the Warriors this term.
The 22-year-old has represented England at U18 and U20 level and follows lock Joe Batley and tighthead Jay Tyack to have made the journey from the Midlands to Ashton Gate, although the latter has been signed on a “trial period”.
Wasps coach returns to Tigers
Leicester Tigers have confirmed the appointment of Matt Everard to the club’s coaching team.
Everard joins Tigers as Senior Academy Coach after five years at Wasps.
Born in Leicester, Everard attended Loughborough Grammar School and enjoyed a decorated junior career at school and club, Lutterworth RFC, which included captaining Midlands Under-16 and Under-18s as well as England Under-18 and Under-19s.
A member of the 2011 England Under-20 squad, Everard featured in each of the Grand Slam winning matches and that season’s Junior World Championship.
Everard captained the Leicester Tigers Academy before making his senior debut in 2009 and achieved Premiership A-League success in 2010 and 2011 with the club.
In 2011, Everard joined Wasps before finishing his playing career at Nottingham Rugby before moving into coaching at the Championship club.
In 2017, he returned to Wasps as Academy Coach before moving into the senior coaching team ahead of the 2019/20 campaign.
Out of work Springbok signs for the Bulls
Former Wasps backrower and five cap Springbok Nizaam Carr has been picked up by United Rugby Championship side the Bulls having been made redundant by his Premiership employers.
A Bulls statement read: “Springboks loose-forward Nizaam Carr returns to the Vodacom Bulls on a deal that runs from November 1, 2022, through to June 2024. The vastly experienced Carr brings (home) an impressive arsenal of skills, having made more than 245 senior club appearances with an additional five caps for the South African national side, the Springboks.
“Carr joins the Vodacom Bulls at the back of another successful stint with the Wasps, with whom he made a total of 74 appearances, scoring 15 tries during his multi-season stay with the English Premiership side.”
Doncaster Knights sign Wasps lock
Championship side Doncaster Knights have confirmed the signing of lock Theo Vukasinovic for the 2022/23 season.
Vukasinovic arrives in Doncaster from Premiership side Wasps.
Head coach Steve Boden said: “We’ve been keen to add another lock to the squad as we’ve been short in that department, as we’ve obviously had John Kelly providing cover.
“Theo coming on the market was great. He’s young, still very ambitious and he comes with a good reference from some of the guys in our squad. So, we’re really keen to work with him and see what he can do in a Doncaster shirt.”
Wasps flanker makes Birmingham Moseley move
Ashley Johnson, who returned to Wasps a senior academy transition coach in the summer, has returned to Birmingham Moseley where he will operate as defence and scrum coach. He will be joined at Moseley by flanker Ben Morris, who played more than 50 times for Wasps after joining from Nottingham in 2018.
Munster pick up former Wasps towering lock
Munster Rugby and the IRFU have confirmed the short-term signing of lock Kiran McDonald as injury cover on a three-month deal.
From Scotland, the 27-year-old was playing with Wasps earlier this season after making the move from Glasgow Warriors where he had been playing since 2017. The second row will link up with the province this weekend.
