Baxter expecting Nowell to join the French exodus
JACK NOWELL looks set to continue the English exodus from Exeter to France after Rob Baxter admitted he is planning for life without the Lions wing.
Chiefs director of rugby Baxter is already losing England players Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sam Simmonds, who have signed for Montpellier for next season. Nowell is yet to sign a new Exeter deal and is likely to follow a similar path.
All 11 Premiership clubs left standing, in a season that has already seen Worcester and Wasps go to the wall, are having to tighten their belts as they operate within a strict salary-cap limit.
With greater financial packages on offer in France and Japan, more and more players are moving abroad even though that makes them ineligible for Test rugby. ‘I’ve got to plan that Jack won’t be here because that’s the current situation,’ Baxter said yesterday.
‘The agreement we’ve got is that if I find a replacement player who I like the look of, we are going to sign them. Jack is aware of that. He is currently looking in the market.
‘If he comes back to me prior to us signing anybody, we can talk. If he comes back after we sign someone who has replaced him and the salary-cap room is not there, then it’s not there. It is a very open scenario.
‘I am assuming he is not here and I think he is assuming he’s going. ‘As much as there is no contract signed and there is no definitive answer, we are moving on. That’s all I can say.’ Baxter admitted he would be delighted if Nowell, 29, did decide to stay with Exeter, the club who have developed him, but that looks unlikely. Meanwhile, England flyhalf George Ford made a return to international duty this week when he joined up with new head coach Steve Borthwick for a monitoring camp. Ford is yet to play for new side Sale after he joined the Sharks from Leicester in the summer where he won the Premiership title under Borthwick’s guidance. But he is set to return to action this month, possibly against his former side Bath on January 27.
Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson expects Ford to go straight into Six Nations duty with England, even if he has had minimal or no game time at club level. Scrumhalf Raffi Quirke is also close to a Sale return. Elliott Stooke, who was made redundant at Wasps earlier this season, has joined Montpellier with immediate effect after a short stint with Bristol.