Fans’ favourite Savage could move to Japan

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LONG-SERVING lock Tom Savage could leave Gloucester at the end of the season to make a shock move to Japan.

It is thought that the former club captain has received some lucrative offers and it appears as though his eight-year stay at Kingsholm is coming to an end.

Munakata Sanix Blues are leading the chase for Savage’s signature with Honda Heat also in the frame according to The Rugby Paper.

Savage, who turns 30 this year, joined Gloucester from Hartpury in 2011 and has made 190 appearances for the club, featuring regularly during that time thanks in large part to his impressive durability.

He was captain during the 2013-14 season and his high work-rate has made him a firm fans’ favourite.

Savage is one of four senior second rows in the current Gloucester squad along with Ed Slater and South Africans Franco Mostert and Gerbrandt Grobler.

There has been the rise in big rugby stars playing in Japan, the host country of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, in recent years the most high-profile being All Blacks great Dan Carter, who joined Kobelco Steelers last year.

England international James Haskell spent a year at Ricoh Black Rams, where Gloucester’s Mostert also played, and lock Geoff Parling spent the last two years at Munakata Sanix Blues.

Gloucester flanker Jaco Kriel played for Kubota Spears between 2016 and 2018.