Transfer news, rumours, speculation, insinuations, and outright transfer slanders - Season 2025/26

[Danno]

I'll post this here for the moment, but there's a rumour that Stade Français are thinking of tempting Courtney Lawes (who'll be 37 in February) to sign for them when his contract with ProD2 Brive expires at the end of this season. Maybe he's been dreaming of guiding Brive back into the Top14, but Brive are currently 8th and have been blowing hot and cold this season and seem to have a slim chance of promotion, so if SF come calling with a tasty pre-retirement contract, it could be hard to resist.

COURTNEY GO SMASHSTADE

[Yorkie]

ITV poised to show every England rugby Test after shock Nations Championship bid
Free-to-air broadcaster is close to securing rights for first edition of the competition after beating TNT Sports with £90m offer

England
England begin their Nations Championship campaign against South Africa in July next yearCredit: Getty Images/Dan Mullan
Gavin Mairs

Chief Rugby Union Correspondent
02 December 2025 1:59pm GMT

ITV is on the verge of securing broadcasting rights for the inaugural Nations Championship after tabling a bid of £90m to ensure that every rugby union Test match next year will be shown on free-to-air television.

Telegraph Sport understands that ITV outbid TNT Sports, who had just broadcast this year’s autumn internationals.

The surprise bid surpasses the £63m that ITV and the BBC paid for the Six Nations Championship in a new three-year deal earlier this year. It represents a shift away from major sports such as football, cricket and Formula One moving to pay TV and is regarded as a major boost to the new tournament.

“This is major money and guarantees exposure for a major tournament,” one source said.

The Nations Championship is the new tournament involving the Six Nations sides and their southern hemisphere rivals from the Rugby Championship – South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, as well as Fiji and Japan. Games will be played in July and November.

The French broadcasting deal is already done, with free-to-air channel TF1, and a similar deal is expected in Ireland.

The ITV deal is expected to cover the first two tournaments, with the second scheduled for 2028. The World Cup in Australia in 2027 is also being shown on ITV, so the sport can expect to benefit from unprecedented exposure through to at least 2029, when the current Six Nations deal concludes.

ITV
ITV already holds the rights to broadcast the Rugby World Cup and Six Nations Championship in the UKCredit: Getty Images/David Rogers
Insiders say that ITV have been clearing their decks to invest in live sport, indicated by the swiftness and seriousness of their bid.

ITV’s coverage of England v France this February was watched by a peak of six million viewers across all devices, giving the station its largest audience of the year at that point and their most-watched weekend broadcast since football’s European Championship in 2024. Across Europe the match peaked at 13m viewers.

England will open their Nations Championship campaign with the eagerly awaited match against world champions South Africa in Johannesburg in July, followed by a game against Fiji in Port Elizabeth. Steve Borthwick’s side will then fly to Argentina to face Los Pumas.

England will then face Australia, Japan and New Zealand at Twickenham in November before the Nations Championship will be decided during a finals weekend (also at Twickenham). In this, the top-ranked sides from each hemisphere will meet in a final, with the rest playing off against each other based on their respective rankings.

Tom Harrison, the chief executive of the Six Nations, speaking at the launch last month, said the new tournament signalled a “tectonic shift in the sport.”

“Rugby’s strongest nations have collaborated with a clear vision to grow the game, by challenging traditional ways of operating to create a tournament structure with genuine global relevance, which will unlock the true value of the sport,” he said.

“The world’s biggest and best Championships are defined by intense sporting drama, and the Nations Championship will stand alongside these. The Finals Weekend will add a totally new dimension for fans, and promises to create an incredible spectacle, crown Champions, and act as a catalyst to grow rugby’s reach, globally.

“By bringing together the best teams and players in the sport and injecting another layer to the fierce cross hemisphere rivalries, the Nations Championship will take international rugby to new heights.”

TNT were favourites to secure the rights, after an impressive production of the autumn games, but they are now expected to focus on securing the rights to the European Champions Cup to complete their coverage of the Gallagher Prem.

Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, said last week that financial agreements were in place for the distribution of broadcast, commercial and sponsorship and ticketing revenues.

“The initial negotiation was around the revenue splits between the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere and there’s three main revenue streams to that,” said Sweeney. “So your broadcast, commercial sponsorship and then match day and they’ve all got slightly different percentages given the value of our rights there.

“So once that was agreed and settled, the amount of money that then flows into the north, that will be subject to the existing model we’ve got under what was called Project Light, which is the Six Nations Agreement that we did with CVC previously and there’s already set criteria there in terms of how the revenue splits go across the unions.

“That will go into that pot, and it will be split according to that existing agreement. We believe the entire game will benefit from this. One of the reasons we did the Nations Championship was we were getting very clear feedback from commercial partners and broadcasters that they wanted a more meaningful competition.

“Autumn internationals are great, but they didn’t have the meaning to them that was necessary and we were hearing some of that from the fans as well. So that was the primary reason for going for the Nations Championship. The fact that it’s now been over the line will help us challenge and sustain against some of the financial challenges we have.”

Telegraph Sport contracted both the Six Nations and ITV, but both declined to comment.

[Danno]

That is excellent news if the deal goes through. TNT must be fuming

[Captainhaircut]

Daly and Lozowski off to Sale apparently. Given their age and Lozowski’s endless injury problems, they don’t look great signings to me.

[Mellsblue]

Daly and Lozowski off to Sale apparently. Given their age and Lozowski’s endless injury problems, they don’t look great signings to me.

Depends how much they’re being paid and what role they’re seen as playing. Daly as a mentor to Carpenter sounds good to me.

[FKAS]

Daly and Lozowski off to Sale apparently. Given their age and Lozowski’s endless injury problems, they don’t look great signings to me.

Depends how much they’re being paid and what role they’re seen as playing. Daly as a mentor to Carpenter sounds good to me.

I imagine Lozowski is a straight up Rob du Preez replacement and fair play he's pretty much perfect for that role. Better defender in the 13 channel actually. 14, 11 and 25 games in his last three seasons so not as injury prone as you'd maybe think though this last one is a long layoff for a guy that's now 32.

Two players who bring loads of versatility to a Sale side that doesn't have lots of depth. Doubt they are cheap but also probably not breaking the bank. Sanderson has loudly proclaimed Sale are in the market for four or five "world class" players so they've apparently got money/cap to spend.

[FKAS]

Daly and Lozowski off to Sale apparently. Given their age and Lozowski’s endless injury problems, they don’t look great signings to me.

Depends how much they’re being paid and what role they’re seen as playing. Daly as a mentor to Carpenter sounds good to me.

I imagine Lozowski is a straight up Rob du Preez replacement and fair play he's pretty much perfect for that role. Better defender in the 13 channel actually. 14, 11 and 25 games in his last three seasons so not as injury prone as you'd maybe think though this last one is a long layoff for a guy that's now 32.

Two players who bring loads of versatility to a Sale side that doesn't have lots of depth. Doubt they are cheap but also probably not breaking the bank. Sanderson has loudly proclaimed Sale are in the market for four or five "world class" players so they've apparently got money/cap to spend.

[Puja]

Martin's departure confirmed : https://www.leicestertigers.com/news/ti ... -departure

Head Coach Geoff Parling said: “We would have liked George to stay with the club as he’s a top-quality player developed through our academy alongside many of the current team.

"While we offered George a competitive deal to remain with Tigers, he has chosen a different direction for the next stage of his career. We thank him for his time with us and wish him well.”

Puja

[FKAS]

Martin's departure confirmed : https://www.leicestertigers.com/news/ti ... -departure

Head Coach Geoff Parling said: “We would have liked George to stay with the club as he’s a top-quality player developed through our academy alongside many of the current team.

"While we offered George a competitive deal to remain with Tigers, he has chosen a different direction for the next stage of his career. We thank him for his time with us and wish him well.”

Puja

Guessing Sarries are announcing him tomorrow then.

[FKAS]

We better be announcing one of the two good Kpoku brothers as a replacement.

Some rumours Liebenburg might be heading back to SA as his wife is wanting to be closer to family but that's more vague.

[charlesdeboeuf]

We better be announcing one of the two good Kpoku brothers as a replacement.

Some rumours Liebenburg might be heading back to SA as his wife is wanting to be closer to family but that's more vague.

Genuine question - is Joel Kpoku actually any good? Was never particularly eye catching for England u20s or Sarries. Can’t say I’ve watched him for Lyon or Pau but do you think he’d be troubling England selectors if he came back to play for Tigers?

Also slightly rankles that he’s listed as 126kg on All Rugby but his current employers have him as 114kg on their team page. A George Martin-esque tighthead lock he is not.

[Captainhaircut]

Not even sure Joel has been playing lock much. Seems to be at 6 whenever I see teamsheets.

[Scrumhead]

We better be announcing one of the two good Kpoku brothers as a replacement.

Some rumours Liebenburg might be heading back to SA as his wife is wanting to be closer to family but that's more vague.

Genuine question - is Joel Kpoku actually any good? Was never particularly eye catching for England u20s or Sarries. Can’t say I’ve watched him for Lyon or Pau but do you think he’d be troubling England selectors if he came back to play for Tigers?

Also slightly rankles that he’s listed as 126kg on All Rugby but his current employers have him as 114kg on their team page. A George Martin-esque tighthead lock he is not.

Can’t say Joel has ever stood out to me. Decent but certainly no better than others already in the squad.

I haven’t seen Junior play enough to make a qualified judgement but when I have seen him I haven’t been particularly impressed. In fairness, that may be because I’m going in with high expectations because of the hype factor, but still … I’m more excited by Sodeke and Burrow.

I think there’s always an element of inflating a player's ability/potential when they’re unavailable. Think how Armitage, Abendanon, Ashton etc. were all suddenly world beaters because they couldn’t be picked.

[FKAS]

Not even sure Joel has been playing lock much. Seems to be at 6 whenever I see teamsheets.

I think he's played both fairly regularly.

Lock : 45 times ( Lock #4 62%, Lock #5 10%)
Back Row : 18 times ( Blindside Flanker 24%, Openside Flanker 5%)

He played a lot at 6 for Pau last season. Might be he's dropped a bit of weight there to play on the backrow last season. Seems to be being considered a lock this season as he's either started there or replaced a lock in each appearance this season. At Lyon he was playing well and playing lock.

https://www.epcrugby.com/champions-cup/ ... joel-kpoku

https://www.section-paloise.com/joueurs ... joel-kpoku

Weight and height slightly different on both of those links. Good old reliability of quoted height and weight.

[twitchy]

e- Also Lake and Morgan rumoured to be going to glos.


Furbank -> quins rumoured in the tgraph. It felt weird reading he was 29, I still had him in my "up and comer" mental category.

Which made me think of this tune.

[FKAS]

Damn, there were rumours linking Lake with Tigers. I was hoping that would come to pass, having him and Blamire to rotate would have been handy. Tigers being linked to Dan Edwards which feels like a risky punt. If rather keep Bailey and Searle and have Lake up front than add another 10 option.

George Pearson has signed a new contract with Tigers have his European debut at the weekend (beating five tacklers on a 60m break from which he offloaded for Moro to score is worth a watch, Geordan Murphy vibes).

[FKAS]

Will Wand, Ollie Allan, Harry Palmer and Charlie Titcombe also renew with Titcombe being confirmed as going on loan to Dynoboars for the rest of the season.

[Stom]

e- Also Lake and Morgan rumoured to be going to glos.


Furbank -> quins rumoured in the tgraph. It felt weird reading he was 29, I still had him in my "up and comer" mental category.

Which made me think of this tune.

Was definitely a late bloomer. What would that mean for Green? Not sure that's the most pressing area for Quins to spend, but then again we have a habit of not spending our cap particularly well.

[FKAS]

e- Also Lake and Morgan rumoured to be going to glos.


Furbank -> quins rumoured in the tgraph. It felt weird reading he was 29, I still had him in my "up and comer" mental category.

Which made me think of this tune.

Was definitely a late bloomer. What would that mean for Green? Not sure that's the most pressing area for Quins to spend, but then again we have a habit of not spending our cap particularly well.

Replacement for Green or for Jarrod Evans? Get experienced 10 cover who's also able to offer a different option from 15, good kicker at the back without losing the ability to counter from deep. Green to rotate or to shift to the wing.

[FKAS]

Will Wand, Ollie Allan, Harry Palmer and Charlie Titcombe also renew with Titcombe being confirmed as going on loan to Dynoboars for the rest of the season.

Ale Loman and Ilione round out the re-signings. Good news about Ilione in particular as Sale has tabled a decent offer for him.

[Captainhaircut]

Furbank would have to be insane to go to Quins.

Wonder if Saints can’t afford to keep him- Smith and Mitchell must have had a fair uplift in their renewals.

[FKAS]

Furbank would have to be insane to go to Quins.

Wonder if Saints can’t afford to keep him- Smith and Mitchell must have had a fair uplift in their renewals.

Or aren't prepared to give him an international level uplift after he's been out injured for a while.

[Scrumhead]

Furbank would have to be insane to go to Quins.

Wonder if Saints can’t afford to keep him- Smith and Mitchell must have had a fair uplift in their renewals.

Oh yeah, same as CCS being an idiot for renewing … got any other records in your collection?

[Captainhaircut]

Furbank would have to be insane to go to Quins.

Wonder if Saints can’t afford to keep him- Smith and Mitchell must have had a fair uplift in their renewals.

Oh yeah, same as CCS being an idiot for renewing … got any other records in your collection?

Well yeah but it’s the same one. I’ll say it once to be clear then and not say it again if it upsets you.

Quins are an absolute mess of a side with a completely ineffective game plan, incredible weak management and almost the entire the squad is underperforming and has for years.

Anyone with aspirations of winning trophies or furthering/cementing their England and World Cup ambitions should be staying well clear.

[Scrumhead]

There are plenty of elements of that I agree with. However, I don’t think it would take a lot to transform us into a good side.

Dun is a good signing and Furbank could be a great signing. Add in a season’s worth of settling-in for Petti, Delgado, Wenger and Treadwell and suddenly that looks like a pretty good squad. Yes, there’s still a significant amount of work to be done in getting them to perform to the summer of their parts, but I can see why someone like Furbank might buy into the potential that’s there.