Goromaru not going to Toulon, say Reds
BRISBANE (Australia): Australia’s Queensland Reds Monday said there was no truth in French reports that their star Japanese recruit Ayumu Goromaru will join European champions Toulon next season.
France’s Canal Plus on Sunday said fullback Goromaru, who rose to fame during last year’s World Cup, had signed a one-year deal with the option of a second year with the lavish-spending French outfit.
But a Queensland Rugby Union spokesperson said the reports were “not true”, without elaborating.
Goromaru shot to prominence when he scored 58 points as Japan won three of their four matches at the World Cup, including a stunning win over South Africa.
He is set to make his Super Rugby debut in just under two weeks’ time with the Reds, who already have Wallabies Quade Cooper and James O’Connor playing in France with Toulon.
Goromaru, 29, caused a stir in his homeland when he opted to join the Reds for the upcoming Super season rather than Japan’s first ever participants, the newly formed Sunwolves.
French reports last week named him as world rugby’s best paid player, saying he was earning 200,000 euros per month, mostly from sponsorships and endorsements.
That would place him ahead of newly-retired All Black Dan Carter, who helped New Zealand seal back-to-back World Cups in November before signing a three-year deal with Paris club Racing Metro said to be worth about 1.78 million euros a season.