Pre-season training in the burning sunshine is well under way around the Gallagher Premiership but there are still an estimated 70 players out of contract looking for new gigs as directors of rugby cut their squads to deal with the reduced salary cap.
Here is a look at all the latest comings and goings from around the Premiership and rumoured moves....
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Released Wasps back considering Japan and USA options
Versatile back Rob Miller is still looking for a new club having been released by Wasps at the end of the season as Premiership sides feel the squeeze of the reduced salary cap.
With a young child and a second on the way, Miller is holding out to see whether any opportunities arise in England and exploring careers outside of rugby. However the former Newcastle Falcons man is also considering offers from the MLR in the USA and Japanese League One.
Speaking to The Rugby Paper, he said: "We are looking at a couple of options and we'll see.
"I've been lucky that I've been able to stay in the Premiership since the start of my career, so the chance to experience something else would be really good.
"The stuff abroad excites me. Japan and America, those countries throw up a totally different rugby experience. It is something I would be interested in if the right option came around."
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Doncaster Knights take steps to make promotion possible
Championship club Doncaster Knights have submitted a planning application to double the capacity of their Castle Park stadium so as to be eligible for promotion to the Gallagher Premiership.
Doncaster finished second in the Championship last season behind Ealing Trailfinders, but no side was promoted due to Premiership regulations that clubs must have a stadium that can take 10,001 fans as a minimum.
Plans submitted to the council will include a new East and South stands, plus extra parking, taking the stadium capacity from 5,139 spectators up to 10,015.
Chiefs boss Baxter not looking for locks
Rob Baxter is set to put his faith in emerging young Welsh lock stars Christ Tshiunza and Dafydd Jenkins to fill the holes left in his Exeter Chiefs squad by some high profile departures last month.
Exeter have seen British and Irish Lion Jonny Hill join Sale Sharks, Scotland international Sam Skinner move to Edinburgh, Sean Lonsdale leave for Dragons and Will Witty has been released from his contract a year early to take up a personally lucrative offer from Perpignan.
Baxter has signed two second rows, bridging in Ruben van Heerden from South African side the Sharks and Jack Dunne from Leinster, but The Rugby Paper reports this week that the Chiefs director of rugby is content with his resources in the engine room of the pack heading into the 2022/23 season with his young Welsh stars currently flourishing in the U20s Six Nations Summer Series.
Former Bath and Harlequins star Jamie Roberts retires
Former Wales centre Jamie Roberts has announced his retirement from rugby union at the age of 35.
Roberts won 94 caps for Wales and also represented the British and Irish Lions before finishing his playing career in Australia.
Roberts wrote on social media: “The time feels right.
“As I reach the end of my professional playing career, I’m retiring with an immense sense of gratitude for what the game has provided to me.”
Roberts started his career with Cardiff and made his international debut with Wales in 2008, going on to feature in two Grand Slam triumphs and a fourth-place finish at the 2011 World Cup.
Roberts was voted man of the series for the Lions in 2009, and four years later scored a try in the historic series-clinching win over Australia.
Pablo Matera opts against Bath Rugby move
Bath Rugby have missed out on signing former Argentina captain Pablo Matera after the powerful backrower turned down a big-money move due to the turmoil at the club in the last 12 months according to the latest reports.
The Daily Telegraph report uncertainties surrounding the club’s off-field restructure when the deal was being brokered back in February put Matera off switching the Canterbury Crusaders, where he won a Super Rugby title this year, for the West Country after being lined up to replace Wales great Taulupe Faletau who has joined Cardiff Rugby.
British and Irish Lions star Faletau followed the outstanding number eight Zach Mercer as X-factor backrow stars to leave the club in successive seasons. Mercer joined Montpellier in the summer of 2021 and has gone on to win the league with the French Top 14 club, earning the man of the match award for a storming personal performance in the final to cap arguably the best season of his career.
As a result of Matera’s snub, with the Argentine instead set to become one of the world’s highest paid rugby players after signing a contract reported to be worth more than £1 million a season with a club in Japan, Bath have gone from number eight being an area of impressive strength to relative inexperience, with new Championship signing Wesley White and Jaco Coetzee the two specialists left in the squad, with Nahum Merigan coming through the academy.
Bristol Bears prop drops down the leagues to sign for French club
Bristol Bears prop Ashley Challenger was one of those players caught out by the Bears’ administration snafu in the Spring which saw the club miss an important deadline to turn down otherwise automatic contract renewals. The impact of the error was it reduced director of rugby Pat Lam’s abilities to pick and choose which players stayed and which left the club as he had to make changes to his plans for the squad to stay within the Premiership’s salary cap rules next season.
Challenger, explains: “It backlashed on me a little bit because I couldn’t have the plus one of my one year, plus one deal. But it could be a blessing in disguise because I can go out and get that regular rugby.
“I am joining a club in Fed 1, being told the situation so late in the day most deals had been done, but I found a club in Fed 1 and will be playing there for a year.”
Worcester Warriors hooker joins London Irish
London Irish have confirmed the signature of Isaac Miller from fellow Gallagher Premiership Club Worcester Warriors.
Whilst being English qualified, Miller was capped by Scotland under-20s and also spent time with and captained London Scottish during the 2017/18 Championship season prior to linking up with his former team at Sixways.
The 28-year-old hooker has spent four years in the west Midlands and joins Declan Kidney’s squad in time for the 2022/23 campaign.
Miller made 50 appearances for Warriors, with his debut arriving in the EPCR Challenge Cup against Section Paloise in December 2018.
Tigers winger makes Italian switch
Former Leicester Tigers winger Kobus van Wyk has signed for United Rugby Championship side Zebre.
The South African back joined Tigers from the Hurricanes in 2020 and played 18 times before spending a long spell out of action during his second season.
In March, the 30-year-old was granted early release from his contract with the club with immediate effect, nearly five months on from his solitary Premiership appearance in the 2021/22 campaign, which came in October's victory over Saracens at Mattioli Woods Welford Road. His other three outings prior to his exit came in the Premiership Rugby Cup.
Van Wyk follows former Bristol Bears back Tiff Eden in making the move to Zebre, who have also secured the signings of Lorenzo Pani, Simone Gesi, Damiano Mazza and Ratko Jelic in recent times.
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