Exodus of the props brings era to an end

THERE was a time, not so long ago, when Premiership clubs would pay tighthead props in Bitcoin, provided they were good enough to hold things together on their own put-in and disrupt like hell when the opposition scrumhalf had the ball in his hands.

Yet suddenly, hardened No.3s who either played international rugby or had realistic ambitions of doing so are on their way out of the elite league in droves.

Kieran Brookes, a member of the England squad at the 2015 World Cup (not that he would consider this a career highlight), has left Wasps for a rumble around the Top 14 with Toulon, who, for all the grandeur of their recent history, are not best placed to sweep the board of silverware.

As for the equally substantial 55-cap Test forward Tomas Francis, a move to Ospreys from Exeter may improve his chances of staying in the Wales mix, but it won’t do much for his trophy-hunting.

Jake Cooper-Woolley, meanwhile, is off the Sale books. Sadly, he isn’t on the books of anyone else right now.

If Cooper-Woolley never looked the fittest prop on God’s earth, neither did Brookes or Francis. What he offered was an unusually broad skill set, underpinned by a highly developed instinct for the main chance that allowed him to make unexpected impacts at both ends of the field.

Willgriff John has followed Cooper-Woolley out of Greater Manchester, Henry Thomas has left Bath for Montpellier and some heavily decorated southern hemisphere types – Owen Franks, Sekope Kepu, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro – have disappeared from these shores.

That’s quite some exodus. The end of a cauliflower “eara”, you might say.