1
Luke Morahan to exit Bristol mid-season
By Ian Cameron
Former Wallabies winger Luke Morahan is set to leave Bristol early to head to France and the Top 14.
The club have confirmed that they will release "Morahan from his contract and the winger will depart the club to Top 14 side Bayonne on December 28th."
Morahan joins the French side as medical joker. Morahan scored 47 tries in 107 appearances for the Bears and "leaves with the club’s full support and best wishes".
Morahan has three Test caps for the Wallabies and is a former Western Force and Junior Wallabies representative.
Director of Rugby, Pat Lam, said: “Luke has been a tremendous leader and a foundation Bear who has driven the standards and set the bar for the next group of players.
“Luke was out of contract next summer and keen to stay - and while we were obviously keen to keep somebody of his quality and experience, the challenges of the reduced salary cap mean it’s impossible to keep hold of every player, a challenge that we are seeing across the Premiership now.
“He came to me with a fantastic, long-term offer from Bayonne on the proviso that he joined now as a medical joker – and with the challenges of managing the salary cap meaning that we couldn’t guarantee him an offer to stay, we have granted his early release in the best interests of Luke, Madi and his family.
“With everything he has achieved and contributed here, we feel this is the right decision and we know he will give everything to the club over December.”
A former Vodafone Super Rugby champion with the Queensland Reds (2011), Morahan was also a part of the Australian Sevens team that won the silver medal at 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, having made his debut in Sevens in 2008.
Morahan added: “Bristol has given me and my family more than I could have ever imagined when we arrived back in the Championship in 2017. My wife and I have raised our two children here and we have made lifelong friends and memories.
“I am so proud of everything that we have achieved at the club during my time here and how far the Bears have progressed in that time. There are so many highlights and I depart knowing that everything is in place for the next guys who pull on the jersey.
“To be one of the first players to make 100 appearances for the Bears and to help the club to silverware in Europe has been fantastic and I would like to thank the fans and the Bristol community for how welcome they have made us – it is a city that will always feel like home.
“Finally, I want to personally thank Pat Lam, Steve, Chris and Jon for the trust and support they have shown me, both during my time in a Bears jersey and now in agreeing to an early release so that I can support my family in an exciting new chapter in France.”
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Rassie Erasmus explains so-called Willie Le Roux selection snub
3
Mitchell hints England's much-maligned habit is a thing of the past
4
Gregor Townsend breaks silence on his Scotland future
5
Latest Comments
LOL thats the same mentality the French saying about the Top 14. Why change their ridiculous comp if its performing well with investors?
There is always better JWH.
It depends really what you want out of Super Rugby and NPC. Currently Super Rugby fills both niche’s, it has the up and commers as well as the stars performing at the top. Reducing further obviously improves further on what has been the reason everybody is enjoying this season.
There is definitely a question of balance and what going further that way removes. But theres a few reasons. What coaches are telling us is it is also a struggle to find the talent to fill out a strong SR side. There is talk of increasing financial constraints. Currently there is a lopsided (random) amount of derby home and away match ups in each conference, so going 5v5 instead of 6v6 may mean we have a full derby round for each conference (currently I think they play just 3 teams twice), or even squeeze in a full dbl round comp. Going a larger number of teams means they need to go much larger to fairer league setup.
But they need to add or remove JWH, one or the other, and I was merely pointing out that adding, like you’re suggestion, is likely going to introduce just what we all (or at least what the person I was replying to was saying) think the comp has been remedied of, having a weak team. The 5v5 I referenced was 3 Aus teams, with the other two filling the landscape their, and 5 here. That’s what NZR wanted to kick off for the COVID year but ARU threw a hissy fit. If going to 10 is the right thing to do maybe it’s an NZ team that needs to be dropped, so Moana would remain here and Drua continue to be with the aussies, thats the other possible 5 v 5 setup (which would just be 10 if they found a way for all to play even games).
Go to commentsHire Expert Certified Intelligence Cyber Wizard Assets Recovery Company for any job?
I was persuaded to buy cryptocurrency by someone I met online. They have access to a group of analysts who provide reliable predictions for the rise and fall of BTC. I initially attempted with a modest amount just to be sure, and I was successful in withdrawing money twice. This demonstrated a growth in the signals I was receiving. I decided to include corporate funds as well. When I tried to contact the individual at that point, he had banned all of his connections, which is when everything started to go wrong. I tried everything until a friend of mine introduced me to a hacker INTELLIGENCE CYBER WIZARD, a company that helps individuals and businesses recover their stolen BTC assets. They truly helped me to recover everything at an affordable fee and I was exultantly proud and joyful; in high spirits. If you are in the same mess, To learn more about them kindly reach out to them with the details below:
E-mail: intelligencecyberwizard@gmail.com
Mail: intelligencecyberwizard@ma
il.com
Go to comments