The final deals are getting over the line around the northern hemisphere as directors of rugby around the Premiership, and abroad, look to get their squads in place ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Here are all the latest transfer rumours, confirmed moves and contract renewals from around the Gallagher Premiership.
Quins to add another international fly-half
Eight cap Wales international Jarrod Evans is set to leave Cardiff and sign for English giants Harlequins according to the latest reports
The talented playmaker, who is still just 26, is out of contract at the end of the season and WalesOnline reports a move to the Premiership club has been agreed with an announcement expected this week.
With wages set to be aggressively pushed down in Wales next season and the regions eventually operating on budgets of £4.5million, Evans is one of many players expected to leave the regions.
Italian international fly-half Tommy Allan is expected to leave Quins at the end of the season for Perpignan.
Pat Lam confirms another of Bristol Bears’ ‘rock stars’ is following Semi Radradra out the door
Pat Lam has confirmed for the first time on record that former All Black superstar Charles Piutau will leave Bristol Bears at the end of the season.
The news has long been expected in Bear country with Lam announcing earlier in the season the club have secured the services of England full-back Max Malins, 26, from Saracens ahead of the 2023/24 season. While Malins is currently playing on the wing for England and can also play at fly-half, as demonstrated during his highly successful loan year at Bristol in 2020/21, he has made it clear he wants to wear the 15 jersey full time.
Standout Bath forward considering French move
The CV of Bath lock Fergus Lee-Warner, who moved to the Rec in the Autumn following the collapse of Worcester Warriors, is dong the rounds in the French Top 14 according to the latest reports from The Rugby Paper.
The Australian, who can also play in a big backrow, has been one of the few consistent standout performers for Bath his season but only has a deal at the club until the end of the season.
Bristol Bears had been linked with interest in the big, athletic ball carrier but that appears to have gone cold in favour of more lucrative offers overseas.
Bristol Bears coach wanted back at Connacht
According to the latest reports across the Irish Sea, Bristol Bears forwards coach John Muldoon is wanted back at his former club Connacht.
The former Ireland international number eight followed Pat Lam to Bristol in 2018 as defence coach before transitioning to become the club's forward coach in 2020, helping shape the pack which saw the Bears finish top of the Gallagher Premiership in 2020/21.
In the summer United Rugby Championship side Connacht are set for a coaching overall with Pete Wilkins taking overall responsibility for the professional team from next season on a three-year deal following the departure of Andy Friend’ as director of rugby in 2022.
Under Wilkins there is expected to be a significant coach overhaul and The Rugby Paper, amongst others, reports Muldoon is top of the club's shopping list.
Jack Nowell gets Top 14 offer
Exeter Chiefs winger Jack Nowell is reported to have been offered a contract by Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle ahead of the 2023/24 season. according to The Rugby Paper.
Exeter boss Rob Baxter has resigned himself to Nowell leaving Sandy Park in the summer despite the Cornishman becoming the club's first-ever British and Irish Lion when he was selected in 2017.
Nowell, who made his senior debut in 2012, has made 161 appearances for Exeter, scoring 42 tries during that time while helping the club lift the Heineken Champions Cup and win two Premiership titles.
Bristol Bears targeting England international flanker
The rumours that eight-cap England international flanker Jack Willis is top of Bristol Bears shopping list ahead of next season continue to persist as Pat Lam looks to freshen up his back-row.
Willis, 26, is currently playing his club rugby in Toulouse having been made redundant when Wasps went into administration back in September. Bristol were strongly linked with trying to sign the then jobless turnover king in the Autumn but were unable to match Willis’ salary expectations within the reduced £5m baseline salary cap in the Gallagher Premiership.
But as it stands Willis will be ineligible for international selection next season if he stays in France and The Rugby Paper report Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam has ‘sounded out’ Willis about a potential move to the Bears again to allow him to extend his international career.
Meanwhile, Bristol’s out-of-favour Welsh flanker Dan Thomas looks likely to leave the club this summer having made just one start in the Gallagher Premiership during the 2022/23 season with Lam favouring Jake Heenan or Fitz Harding at openside, and blindside being mainly populated by Steven Luatua and Chris Vui.
Saints land Fijian international lock
Northampton Saints have secured the signing of Fiji international lock Temo Mayanavanua ahead of the 2023/24 season.
The 25-year-old arrives at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens from French side Lyon OU, where he has spent three seasons and racked up 55 appearances so far across the Top14 and European competitions.
Mayanavanua, who clocks in at 6’6” and 120kgs, has scored two tries for Lyon and previously enjoyed a three-season stint with Northland in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship.
Young flanker signs nee Quins deal
Flanker Jack Kenningham has become the latest player to recommit his future Harlequins, the club have confirmed
Debuting for Harlequins during the 2020/21 season before going on to start in the title-clinching Gallagher Premiership final later that campaign, the flanker also enjoyed his first England training squad call-up later that season.
Kenningham has joined the ranks of players to have graduated through the club’s academy and immediately established themselves as regular first-team players, alongside the likes of Fin Baxter, George Hammond and Sam Riley.
The 23-year-old has scored three tries across his 36 Club appearances to date and re-signs today off the back of a return to fitness in the team’s fizzing 40-5 victory over Exeter Chiefs at Big Game 14 on Saturday.
Exeter Chiefs confirm third midseason exit as winger departs
Exeter Chiefs have confirmed the midseason exit of a third player as director of rugby Rob Baxter continues to allow players on the periphery of his squad to seek other opportunities.
Argentine winger Facundo Cordero follows countryman Santiago Grondona and South African Ruben van Heerden in leaving Sandy Park during the 2022/23 season. International backrower Grondona joined French Top 14 side Pau in February while homesick lock van Heerden returned to his native South Africa to link up with the DHL Stormers.
Cordero, 24, has joined United Rugby Championship side Glasgow Warriors until the end of the season having made his 33rd and final outing for Exeter last week, scoring a try in the 43-28 midweek friendly win over the Royal Navy.
Former England international and Gloucester Rugby star announces he will retire
Giant number eight Ben Morgan has been granted a testimonial at Gloucester Rugby after confirming his 11th season at the Premiership club will be his last as a professional rugby player.
Nicknamed the ‘Dursley Bull’, Morgan, 34, grew up plying his trade at his local rugby club, Dursley RFC before starting his professional career in Wales with the Scarlets. He later moved home to Kingsholm in 2012 and since then has been ever-present in a Cherry and White shirt when fit, making more than 180 appearances for Gloucester over the last decade, and earing 31 caps for England between 2012 and 2015.
Saints prop linked with Exeter move
Exeter Chiefs are set to raid Northampton Saints for a tighthead replacement for the departing Harry Williams according to the latest reports.
Nineteen-cap England international prop Williams is understood to have signed for Montpellier next season, where he will join Exeter duo Sam Simmonds and Luke Cowan-Dickie.
Williams, 31, joined Chiefs from Championship side Jersey in 2015 and has gone on to make 162 appearances for the club so far, starting in both of Exeter's two Premiership final wins and in the Heineken Champions Cup final triumph over Racing 92 in 2019/20.
The Rugby Paper report that when it comes to replacing Williams, Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter could continue his model of bringing in players with an eye on developing them, with Northampton’s 24-year-old Ehren Painter a reported target.
Bristol Bears confirm the signing of 28-cap international scrum-half
Pat Lam has moved quickly to 'fill the void' left by Andy Uren leaving the club in the summer by signing Irish international scrum half Kieran Marmion.
Marmion will join Bristol Bears from Connacht, where he played under Lam previously, ahead of the 2023/24 Gallagher Premiership campaign. It was confirmed earlier in the day that Uren has been granted a lease from his contract three years early to join Italian United Rugby Championship side Benetton Treviso next season.
Thirty-one-year-old Marmion, who has 28 caps for his country but just eight starts, links back up with Pat Lam having won the Pro 12 title together at Connacht with a win over Leinster in the final back in 2016. Marmion has made 222 appearances for Connacht during an 11-year spell at the province.
Falcons sign hooker with the best name in rugby
Hooker Corbin Thunder has signed for Newcastle Falcons with immediate effect.
The former Wasps player, 19, joins until the end of next season and linked up with his new team-mates today.
Born and raised in South Africa, Thunder is English-qualified through both grandparents on his father’s side, who were born in the UK.
Coming through the famed Maritzburg College production line, Thunder joined Wasps’ senior academy last summer prior to their suspension from the Gallagher Premiership earlier this season.
The abrasive front-rower was part of the Wasps team which defeated Newcastle Falcons in Premiership Rugby Cup action in September, making 15 tackles in 17 minutes after coming in as a late addition to the match-day squad.
Bristol Bears release key playmaker three years early from his contract
Pat Lam has given up on his Andy Uren experiment and granted the scrum half a release from his contract at Bristol Bears three years earlier than planned to join Italian URC side Benetton Treviso from the 2023/24 season.
The 27-year-old Bristolian, who has made over 150 appearances for his boyhood club, has been granted an early contract release request to join the Italian side having only signed a massive three-year extension until 2026 back in September.
Director of Rugby Pat Lam said: “Andy came to us with a very significant offer on the table from Benetton to go there as first-choice scrum half and asked us to consider the possibility of a release."
Bears centre returns to his hometown club
Bristol Bears have confirmed centre Sam Bedlow will leave the club for Sale Sharks at the end of the 2022/23 season.
The 27-year-old joined the Bears ahead of the 2017/18 campaign and has made 58 appearances for the club so far during his five seasons in the West Country.
Gloucester secure new deal for backrow star Ackermann
Gloucester Rugby have confirmed powerful backrow forward Ruan Ackermann has extended his contract at the Premiership club.
The 27-year-old has amassed over 120 appearances in Cherry and White since joining from the Lions in Johannesburg in 2017. Since his arrival, initially joining his then head coach father Johann at the club, Ackermann has been a prominent figure in the Gloucester squad, establishing himself as one of the most consistent performances in the Gallagher Premiership.
England international commits to Harlequins
Harlequins have announced England star prop Joe Marler has signed a contract extension which will like make him a one club man.
A homegrown Harlequins Academy product, since making his debut during the 2009/10 season, the 32-year-old has gone on to play for England and the British and Irish Lions and become a globally recognised figure within the sport.
Earning over 250 appearances for Quins to date, Marler has become one of the most iconic Harlequins of the modern era and has been key to the club’s title-winning campaigns, lifting the Gallagher Premiership trophy in 2012 and 2021, as well as the 2011 Challenge Cup.
Falcons swoop for former Wasps lock
Melbourne Rebels lock Tim Cardall will join Newcastle Falcons this summer on a two-year deal the club have confirmed>
The 26-year-old Englishman is currently playing in Super Rugby for the Australian franchise, having spent four seasons with Wasps.
Cardall, who stands at 198cm (6 feet 6) and 121kg (19 stone), becomes the Falcons’ third new signing for next season following last week’s announcement of Scottish pair Kiran McDonald and Murray McCallum.
Bristol Bears confirm six contract renewals
Bristol Bears have broken their silence over contract renewals for next season and beyond by confirming new deals for six of the club’s homegrown player.
Hooker Will Capon extends his stay with the club, while up-and-coming backs, centre Joe Jenkins and winger Deago Bailey – who have both made their Premiership debuts this season – also sign extended deals. Jenkins is considered one of the most promising talents in the country and only injury has stopped him featuring more this season.
James Dun, who can operate in the second row and back row and has impressed during a season-long loan spell at Championship side, Jersey Reds, is another to extend his stay with the Bears.
Former England U20 loosehead prop Andrew Turner also signs an extension with his boyhood club, as does exciting back row forward Aaron Tull, who has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in the Premiership Rugby Cup.
