Fissler Confidential: Sharks facing Ox-it? 7 clubs enter bidding war

Whispers have reached Fissler Confidential towers that Ox Nche, the Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks loosehead, could be considering a move to France next year when his contract with the Sharks ends.

The 29-year-old, who has made 61 appearances for the Sharks since 2020 after starting his career with the Cheetahs, is on the verge of helping his country win a fifth Rugby Championship title following back-to-back victories over the All Blacks.

Sources in South Africa say that the Sharks are 50/50 on whether or not they can keep him and that French clubs, who are busy making their recruitment plans, have been alerted to his willingness to move.

Gloucester will need to hold off West Country rivals Exeter Chiefs and Bath if they want to retain the services of highly-rated hooker Seb Blake when his contract runs out at the end of the 2024/25 season.

The Cheltenham-born 22-year-old played 21 times for the Cherry and Whites last season, coming off the bench in the Premiership Rugby Cup final win over Leicester Tigers and starting the Challenge Cup final defeat to the Sharks.

Gloucester want him to stay and have opened talks about a new long-term deal. They hope that Blake appearing on the shopping list at Chiefs and Bath doesn’t complicate matters and they will be able to strike an agreement.

Veteran former Wallaby fly-half James O’Connor looks set to finish his career with a move to either Japan or America’s Major League Rugby following his departure from Queensland. Reds boss Les Kiss was keen to keep the former London Irish, Toulon and Sale Sharks ace, who returned to Brisbane following the 2019 World Cup in Japan and missed a large part of last season with a hamstring injury.

O’Connor celebrated his 34th birthday in July and is understood to have had talks with MLR sides to follow in the footsteps of Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper, who finished their careers in that competition.

Gallagher Premiership champions Northampton Saints are among the clubs who are scrambling on the eve of the new season to sign another tighthead, which has become the most sought-after position in world rugby in the space of a few weeks.

Fissler Confidential understands that at least seven clubs in the Premiership, Top 14, United Rugby Championship and Super Rugby Pacific have put the position at the top of their shopping list ahead of the new campaign. In addition to the Saints, Newcastle Falcons, Dragons, Ulster, Racing 92, ACT Brumbies and Western Force have all asked for the names of potential signings to be put forward for consideration as a matter of urgency.

Bordeaux’s ex-French U20 international fly-half Mateo Garcia has been lined up for a return to Bayonne when his contract runs out at the end of the season. The 22-year-old played a key European Champions Cup role, scoring two tries against Saracens to help book Bordeaux a place in last season's quarter-finals where they lost to Harlequins, but they are battling to retain his services.

Montpellier are also keen to sign him, and Bayonne, where he played for four years before moving to Bordeaux in 2020, also have his name on its list of potential recruits for next season.

Racing 92 boss Stuart Lancaster has said that he has no immediate plans to open his war chest and recruit a back row to replace Siya Kolisi, who this past week sealed a return to the Sharks, his former club. Lancaster explained that he has plenty of options in Paris with Jordan Joseph, Maxime Baudonne, Cameron Woki, Junior Kpoku, Ibrahim Diallo and Hacjivah Dayimani among their ranks.

The former England coach will, however, keep his options open for a medical joker, telling the French media: “We have several options. If, during the season, we suffer from injury, we will recruit someone.”

Former Saracens loosehead Hayden Thompson-Stringer, who was due to be under contract to the NSW Waratahs for another season, has left the club to return to France where he will play for Aix. The Chatham-born 29-year-old has previously played in France with Brive, La Rochelle, and Pau after leaving London in 2019. He joined the Waratahs last February on a two-year deal, making nine appearances.

He is now in France after joining Aix, who have had a mixed start to the new Pro D2 campaign. They needed injury cover for Argentinean international Federico Wegrzyn.

Newcastle have suffered an eve-of-season blow with the news that Argentinean tighthead Eduardo Bello is set to miss the whole of the new campaign with a serious knee ligament injury. The 28-year-old made 16 appearances for the Falcons in his first season in the North East after spells with Saracens and Zebre Parma, but was injured in the Rugby Championship victory over Australia.

It means more wheeling and dealing for Steve Diamond, who already had another fly-half on his shopping list before the Premiership season kicks off with the visit of Bristol Bears next Friday.

Zach Fidler, the son of NRL legend Brad, has taken a significant step towards a cross-code switch after he was named in the 40-man Australia U18s squad for next month's tour of New Zealand. The teenager, who attends Scots College and is also on the books of NRL side Sydney Roosters, looks set to be unveiled by the NSW Waratahs, away from the spotlight of the sport of league where his dad is still so revered.

He is hoping to make the final squad for the trip across the Tasman where they will play the New Zealand Barbarians at St Paul's Collegiate and New Zealand Secondary Schools at FMG Stadium.