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The new season player ins and outs at all 13 Premiership clubs
By Liam Heagney
The squads for the 13 Gallagher Premiership clubs are taking shape for the new 2021/22 season and a look at the list of ins and outs highlights there have been plenty of big-name signings set to join the league this season. Big changes are afoot at Worcester Warriors where 19 players have departed including Duncan Weir to Glasgow. However, the squad has been bolstered by two Scottish heavyweights in the form of Duhan van der Merwe and Rory Sutherland.
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Gloucester will also be able to call on a Scotland international in the form of Adam Hastings after saying goodbye to Matt Garvey and Willi Heinz, who have headed to Warriors, and Danny Cipriani who pulls on a Bath shirt after ten months out of the game.
Harlequins have been busy adding to their squad as they look to defend their title, with Italian fly-half Tomasso Allan joining from Benetton as well as Huw Jones and Christian Scotland-Williamson, who is making his return to rugby following a spell in the NFL.
Leicester are another team that have made changes with Freddie Burns returning to the club and Bryce Hegarty joining from Queensland Bulls, as the likes of Tomas Lavanini and Ben White leave for pastures new. Meanwhile, three Test stars join Wasps at the Coventry Building Society Arena with the arrival of Vaea Fifita and Francois Hougaard, and the return of Nizaam Carr.
Mike Brown and Nathan Earle are heading north as they swap Harlequins for Newcastle Falcons, while Kyle Rowe is heading the other way as he moves from Edinburgh to London Irish. Beaten semi-finalists Sale Sharks will welcome back two former players in the form of Tommy Taylor and Simon McIntyre, the pair are two of only three signings made by head coach Alex Sanderson so far.
"He is an All Black and you can see why"
– Vaea Fifita has quickly got down to work at Wasps ahead of the new Premiership season in England https://t.co/7TgILENN2N
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 1, 2021
Another team who have been quiet in the transfer market is Exeter Chiefs, who welcome Josh Iosefa-Scott and Sean O’Brien as Rob Baxter puts faith in his side who have reached six Premiership finals in a row. Below is the club-by-club list ahead of all the ins and outs ahead of the new Premiership campaign that opens with Bristol hosting newly promoted Saracens on September 17.
2020-2021 CLUB INS & OUTS
BATH RUGBY
Ins: Will Butt (academy), Arthur Cordwell (academy), Johannes Jonker (Ealing Trailfinders), D’Arcy Rae (Glasgow Warriors), Kieran Verden (academy), Jaco Coetzee (The Stormers), Danny Cipriani (unattached).
Outs: Ross Batty (retirement), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors), Oli Cattell (retired), Will Chudley (Worcester Warriors), Sam Elrick (released), Simone Elrick (released), Xavier Hastings (released), Tom Jeanes (retired) Christian Judge (Worcester Warriors), Zach Mercer (Montpellier), Rhys Priestland (Cardiff Blues), Elliott Stooke (Wasps), Henry Thomas (Montpellier), Jack Walker (Harlequins).
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BRISTOL BEARS
Ins: Antoine Frisch (Rouen), Sam Jeffries (unattached), Tom Whiteley (Saracens).
Outs: Ben Earl (Saracens, end of loan), Tom Kessell (Cornish Pirates), Stephen Kerins (Ealing Trailfinders), Max Malins (Saracens, end of loan), Peter McCabe (Hartpury), Tadgh McElroy (Ealing Trailfinders), Siale Piutau (Japan), Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (Benetton).
EXETER CHIEFS
Ins: Kian Gentry (Academy), Ben Hammersley (Academy), Daffyd Jenkins (Academy), Iwan Jenkins (Academy), Frankie Nowell (Academy), Ryan McCauley TBC (Waratahs), Sam Nixon TBC (Bayonne).
Outs: Tom Price (Scarlets), Joe Snow (Coventry), Charlie Wright (Taunton), Corey Baldwin (Scarlets), Alex Cuthbert (Ospreys), Tomas Francis (Ospreys), Elvis Taione (Ospreys), James Short (Released).
GLOUCESTER RUGBY
Ins: Andrew Davidson (Edinburgh), Kirill Gotovtsev (Krasny Yar Krasnoyarsk), Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors), Seb Nagle-Taylor (Hartpury College RFC), Will Britton (Doncaster Knights), Wian Conradie (New England Free Jacks), Ben Meehan (Unattached), Harry Elrington (London Irish).
Outs: Ollie Atkins (released), Matt Banahan (retired), Matt Garvey (Worcester Warriors), Jamie Gibson (released) Willi Heinz (Worcester Warriors), Tom Hudson (released).
HARLEQUINS
Ins: Tommaso Allan (Benetton), Nick David (Worcester Warriors), Hayden Hyde (Ulster), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Christian Scotland-Williamson (unattached), Jack Walker (Bath Rugby).
Outs: Scott Baldwin (Worcester Warriors), Mike Brown (Newcastle Falcons), Michele Campagnaro (Colomiers), Tevita Cabuvati (Perpignan), Nathan Earle (Newcastle Falcons), Elia Elia (Bourg-en-Bresse), Brett Herron (Biarritz), Martin Landajo (Perpignan), James Lang (Edinburgh), Ben Tapuai (Cell C Sharks), Glen Young (Edinburgh).
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LEICESTER TIGERS
Ins: Freddie Burns (Toyota Industries Shuttles), Lewis Chessum (academy), Jacob Cusick (Academy), Bryce Hegarty (Queensland Reds), Tim Hoyt (Academy), Dan Richardson (Jersey Reds), Hosea Saumaki (Sunwolves), Seb Smith (academy), Eli Snyman (Benetton), Juan Pablo Socino (Saracens), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Francois van Wyk (Northampton Saints), Dan Lancaster (Leeds Tykes), Gareth Evans (Ospreys).
Outs: Ollie Ashworth (released), Ryan Bower (London Irish), Jordan Coghlan (released) Luan de Bruin (Edinburgh), Joaquin Diaz Bonilla (Sharks), Osman Dimen (Bedford Blues), Zack Henry (Pau), Tomas Lavanini (ASM Clermont Auvergne), Henri Lavin (released), Sam Lewis (Calvisano), Darryl Marfo (released), Johnny McPhillips (Carcassone), Harry Simmons (Jersey Reds, season-long loan), Kit Smith (released), Ben White (London Irish), Jordan Olowofela (Dragons season-long loan).
LONDON IRISH
Ins: Ben Atkins (Academy), Ben Donnell (Academy), Izzy Moore-Aiono (Academy), Chunya Munga (Academy), Caolan Englefield (Academy), Benhard Janse van Rensburg (NEC Green Rockets), Rory Jennings (Clermont), Hugh O’Sullivan (Leinster), Kyle Rowe (Edinburgh), Marcel van der Merwe (La Rochelle), Ben White (Leicester Tigers), Mike Willemse (Edinburgh), Jamie Dever (Old Glory DC), Ryan Bower (Leicester Tigers).
Outs: Theo Brophy Clews (retirement), Blair Cowan (Japan club), Harry Elrington (released), Nic Groom (released), Tom Homer (retired), Charlton Kerr (released), Andrei Mahu (Perpignan), Motu Matu’u (released), Waisake Naholo (released), Vladimir Podrezov (released)
NEWCASTLE FALCONS
Ins: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Matthew Dalton (Ulster), Mark Dormer (Academy), Nathan Earle (Harlequins), Ollie Fletcher (Academy), Ewan Greenlaw (Academy), Louie Johnson (Academy), Conor Kenny (Connacht), George Merrick (Worcester Warriors), Richard Palframan (Worcester Warriors), Guy Pepper (Academy), Marcus Tiffen (Academy), Ollie Lindsay-Hague (Team GB 7s).
Outs: Rodney Ah You (Vannes), Tom Arscott, (released), Mike Daniels (released), John Hardie (retired), Sam Lockwood (retired), Joel Matavesi (retired), Gareth Owen (retired), Callum Pascoe (released), Bailey Ransom (Bedford Blues), Charlie Richards (released), Toby Salmon (Agen), Cooper Vuna (released), Jon Welsh (released), Toby Flood (retired).
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
Ins: Karl Wilkins (Béziers), Juarno Augustus (Stormers), Brandon Nansen (Brive), Chris Cook (Bristol Bears, short-term deal), Frank Lomani (Melbourne Rebels), Courtnall Skosan (Lions).
Outs: Lewis Bean (Glasgow Warriors), Francois van Wyk (Leicester Tigers), Owen Franks (Hurricanes), Shaun Adendorff (Nevers), Reuben Bird-Tulloch (Ealing Trailfinders), Tui Uru (Bedford Blues), Tommy Mathews (Hartpury University), Ryan Olowofela (Jersey Reds), Harry Mallinder (released/Japan TBC), Henry Taylor (retired), Samson Ma’asi (retired).
SALE SHARKS
Ins: Tommy Taylor (Wasps), Nick Schonert (Worcester Warriors), Simon McIntyre (Wasps).
Outs: Jake Cooper-Woolley (released), WillGriff John (Scarlets), Valery Morozov (released).
SARACENS
Ins: Marco Riccioni (Benetton), Nick Isiekwe (Returned from loan at Northampton), Alex Goode (Returned from loan at NEC Green Rockets), Ben Earl (Returned from loan at Bristol), Ivan Van Zyl (Bulls), Ruben de Haas (Cheetahs), Alex Lozowski (Returned from loan at Montpellier), Max Malins (Returned from loan at Bristol), Nick Tompkins (Returned from loan at Dragons), Theo Mcfarland (Dallas Jackals), Ethan Lewis (Cardiff), Ben Harris (Academy), Sam Wainwright (Academy).
Outs: Michael Rhodes, Will Hooley, Harry Sloan (Agen), Alex Day (Bedford Blues), Josh Ibuanokpe, Calum Clark (Retired), Tom Whiteley (Bristol Bears), Juan Pablo Socino (Leicester Tigers), Ali Crossdale (Wasps), Jonathan Kpoku (Coventry).
WASPS
Ins: Cameron Anderson (Academy), Charlie Atkinson (Academy), Nizaam Carr (Bulls), Kieran Curran (Academy), Ali Crossdale (Saracens), Vaea Fifita (Hurricanes), Dan Frost (Cornish Pirates), Robin Hislop (Doncaster Knights), Francois Hougaard (Worcester Warriors), Luke Mehson (unattached), Elliot Millar-Mills (Ealing Trailfinders), Pieter Scholtz (Scarlets), Elliott Stooke (Bath Rugby).
Outs: Kieran Brookes (Toulon), Juan de Jongh (Stormers), Levi Douglas (Grenoble), Lasha Jaiani (Released), Simon McIntyre (Sale Sharks), Jack Owlett (Worcester Warriors), Will Rowlands (Dragons), Callum Sirker (Cornish Pirates), Lima Sopoaga (Lyon), Tommy Taylor (Sale Sharks), Sione Vailanu (Worcester Warriors), Ben Vellacott (Edinburgh Rugby), Zurabi Zhvania (Grenoble).
WORCESTER WARRIORS
Ins: Harri Doel (Scarlets), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh), Tobi Wilson (Academy), Jack Johnson (Hartpury, Owen Williams (Red Hurricanes), Willi Heinz (Gloucester), Will Chudley (Bath), Tom Miles (Academy), Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh), Scott Baldwin (Harlequins), Finn Theobald-Thomas (Academy), Jay Tyack (Cornish Pirates), Christian Judge (Bath), Jack Owlett (Wasps), Matt Garvey (Gloucester), Cheick Kone (Academy), Sione Vailanu (Wasps), Kyle Hatherell (Jersey Reds).
Outs: Luke Baldwin (released), Callum Black (retired), Conor Carey (released), Matt Cox (retired), Nick David (Harlequins), Cornell du Preez (Toulon), Ed Fidow (Manawatu), Michael Heaney (released), Francois Hougaard (Wasps), Jono Kitto (released), Marco Mama (released), George Merrick (Newcastle Falcons), Matt Moulds, Richard Palframan (Newcastle Falcons), Chris Pennell (released), Nick Schonert (Sale Sharks), Harry Spencer (released), Scott van Breda (Jersey Reds), GJ van Velze (released), Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors), Matti Williams (released).
The post-mortem has been delivered from on high after Bristol's staggering surrender of a 28-point semi-final lead https://t.co/vQonpfa46h
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 2, 2021
