Despite Premiership clubs being restricted by the reduced £5m salary cap players continue to be hoovered up by directors of rugby looking to improve their squads ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Of course, there are plenty of players still out of work following the collapse of London Irish who are looking for new opportunities as well, with plenty of big-name stars moving abroad.
Here are all rugby transfer rumours and gossip, confirmed moves, retirements and contract renewals....
Exeter Chiefs star Harry Williams has next move confirmed
After months of silence following the rumours back in the early Spring, former England and Exeter Chiefs tighthead prop Harry Williams has officially been confirmed as a Montpellier player.
Williams, 31, has 17 caps for England and made more than 160 appearances for Exeter after joining the club from Jersey Reds in 2015, but will play the next two seasons out in the South of France, joining clubmate Sam Simmonds at MHR.
Racing 92 set to miss out on England star Smith
Harlequins look set to have won their battle to keep key playmaker Marcus Smith at the club despite the best attempts of Racing 92 to land the England fly-half.
Smith’s contract at the Stoop expires at the end of the 2023/24 season but The Telegraph report that talks with Racing cooled in recent weeks.
Jonathan Joseph leaves Bath Rugby for France
Former England international centre Jonathan Joseph has played his last game for Bath Rugby after a decade at the club.
Joseph, 32, joined Bath Rugby in 2013 from London Irish and has shone on the club and international stage in the 10 years since, earning 54 caps for England and becoming a British and Irish Lion in 2017 when he toured New Zealand.
On Tuesday morning, Joseph was officially confirmed as a Biarritz Olympique player by the French ProD2 club's president Jean-Baptiste Aldigé on Twitter. He has signed a deal keeping him in the Basque country until at least 2025
Former club captain linked with Kingsholm return
Gloucester Rugby have been linked with a move to bolster their second-row resources by bringing former club captain Tom Savage back to Kingsholm.
Savage, 34, left the Cherry and Whites in 2019 after eight seasons at the club to join Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath in the Japan Rugby League One competition where he has spent the last four years.
Glasgow Warriors snap up London Irish winger
Exiles winger Kyle Rowe has signed for United Rugby Championship side Glasgow Warriors squad ahead of the 2023/24 season.
The 25-year-old, who spent time in the Glasgow Warriors academy before turning professional, makes the switch to Scotstoun following two seasons with London Irish.
Last season he scored 10 tries in 23 appearances across all competitions.
South African hooker departs the Sharks for Bulls
Springbok hooker Akker van der Merwe has signed a three-year contract with the United Rugby Championship side the Vodacom Bulls which will see him run out at Loftus until June of 2026.
Van der Merwe arrives at Loftus from Premiership side the Sale Sharks having scored an impressive 31 tries in 70 appearances during his four years at club. The 32-year-old is no stranger to South African rugby, having applied his trade for the Leopards, Lions and Sharks in more than 128 matches in various competitions.
Leicester Tigers confirm signing of London Irish, Exeter Chiefs and Sale Sharks players
Leicester Tigers have confirmed a quartet of new signings have joined the club's pre-season training ahead of the 2023/24 season including Exeter Chiefs forward Mike Williams.
Williams, 31, joined Chiefs from Bath on a short-term contract but with an opportunity to earn a long deal back in January following Ruben van Heerden’s midseason departure to return to South Africa. The Zimbabwean forward, who can play both lock and flanker was a regular in the Exeter squad for the remainder of the season but has now returned to his former club Leicester.
Tigers, who will be led by new head coach Dan McKellar this season, also confirmed the addition of London Irish scrum-half Joe Powell and flanker Matt Rogerson, along with Sale Sharks fly-half Kieran Wilkinson.
Sale sign Argentina great
Sale Sharks have agreed a deal to sign Argentina and former London Irish hooker Agustín Creevy ahead of the 2023/24 Gallagher Premiership season.
The 38-year-old, who is his country’s most capped player with 97 international appearances, has signed a one-year contract after being left without a club when the Exiles were suspended from the league.
Agustín got his first taste of the Premiership when he joined Worcester Warriors in 2013. After a two-year spell at Sixways, he returned to Argentina to play for the Jaguares, before joining Irish in 2020.
Henry Arundell to play in Paris next season
There will be no return to Bath Rugby for former season ticket holder Henry Arundell with his new club, French Top 14 heavyweights Racing 92, confirming his signing earlier today.
The seven-cap rising star of English rugby was initially linked with a move to Bath Rugby quickly after news broke that London Irish had been suspended from the Gallagher Premiership and then subsequently filed for administration, sparking a fire sale of their impressive squad.
Arundell is understood to have spoken with Blue, Black and White head of rugby Johann van Graan about a move to The Rec having been in the club’s academy as a teenager before leaving the area due to his father's work commitments, however as reported earlier in the month Racing 92 have landed the 20-year-old on a deal starting after the Rugby World Cup until the end of the 2024 season.
The Telegraph reports Arundell is hopeful he will be granted permission the Professional Game Board to remain playing for the England national team despite moving to France. The PGB will meet later this summer to confirm England’s selection policy on players based outside the Premiership.
London Irish second row makes Scarlets move
Former London Irish second row Ed Scragg has signed United Rugby Championship side the Scarlets ahead of the 2023-24 season.
The 6ft 7in Wales U20s cap will link up with the squad for pre-season next month.
Born in Somerset, Scragg qualifies for Wales through his mother’s side of the family who hail from Neath. The lock joined the Exiles in June 2022, playing six matches in a Premiership Cup campaign that saw London Irish reach the final, eventually losing to Exeter Chiefs.
Released Gloucester full-back picked up by Cornish Pirates
Full-back Kyle Moyle has re-signed for his former Championship club Cornish Pirates after he was released by Gloucester Rugby at the end of last season.
Moyle initially joined the Cherry and Whites from Cornish Pirates on a short-term loan deal ahead of the 2020-21 season before going on to earn a full-time contract after a number of impressive performances, making 43 appearances for the Premiership club before his departure.
