Barbeary to join influx of players at the Rec

reshape his squad much earlier than anticipated. He is particularly keen to add big ball-carrier to his pack having seen Wales stalwart Taulupe Faletau depart for Cardiff before his arrival from Munster, and England international Zach Mercer leave the season before, to be replaced by the less impactful GJ van Velze, Jaco Coetzee and Wesley White.

It is understood the recent flurry of headline signings have been made using the additional £400,000 of injured player credits available to clubs to spend on top of the baseline £5m salary cap to replace long-term injured players, with Charlie Ewels (ACL), Beno Obano (knee), Josh McNally (shoulder) and Will Muir (ACL) among those sidelined for significant periods of time.

Barbeary, right, who stands at 6ft 1in and weighs in at 116kg, has represented England at U18s, U19s and U20s and senior head coach Eddie Jones is an admirer of the former Wasps man’s talents, pulling him into multiple training camps over the past three years without giving him a debut cap. But with Exeter Chiefs star Sam Simmonds leaving the Premiership for Montpellier next season and Billy Vunipola now 30, it seems only a matter of time before Barbeary pulls on the Red Rose shirt; but before that is seems he will be donning the Blue, Black and White.