Bristol Bears are set to let three time Wallabies international Luke Morahan leave the club midway through the 2022/23 season according to the latest reports coming out of France.
The country’s leading sports newspaper Midi Olympique is reporting Bayonne have signed Morahan, 32, as a medical joker to replace full back Gaëtan Germain who suffered a season-ending ACL injury last weekend against Montpellier.
Morahan has been one of the stalwarts of Pat Lam’s reign since the director of rugby arrived at the club from Connacht in 2017.
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Australian Morahan arrived from the Western Force at the same time as Lam joined the club and hit the ground running, finishing as top try-scorer in the Championship in Bristol’s promotion campaign.
The winger has been equally successful since stepping up to the Premiership with the Bears scoring 44 tries in 87 appearances and has the ability to cover across the backline.
Morahan has made 108 appearances for the club in total but was named on Bristol’s unavailable list last weekend for the Bears’ 26-26 draw with Leicester Tigers.
Despite the former sevens player having put down roots in Bristol, opening two coffee shops in the city with teammate Jake Heenan and the club’s chief operating officer Tom Tainton, he was one of a number of players Bristol were reported to be looking to offload at the end of the 2021/22 season only to miss a contractual deadline which saw automatic renewals kick in, tying their hands.
Morahan’s departure could well coincide with the return of Fijian ‘Tank on the Flank’ Siva Naulago who was targeting an early December return from knee surgery according to the last update from Lam.
Bristol Bears’ other current wing options are: Henry Purdy, Gabriel Ibitoye, Rich Lane and Deago Bailey with Ioan Lloyd, Toby Fricker, Jack Bates and Noah Heward to come back from injury.
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