Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter is gearing up to lose some more of his long-term stars due to limitations caused by the salary cap.

The exodus has already begun, with Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sam Simmonds set to move to Montpellier next season.

Departures

Meanwhile, loose forward Dave Ewers confirmed his move to Ulster this week in another departure. England star Jack Nowell is also expected to leave the club at the end of the season with his future up in the air.

“We’ve got some big challenges from the decision we made two or three years ago to keep the guys on full salary,” Baxter told BBC Sport.

“That was always going to cause us problems when they came off contract because they’re all contracted on salaries that were at the £6.4m cap.

“The reality is now when you come off contract it’s a £5m cap.”

The majority of Exeter’s historic side that won the Champions Cup and Premiership double in 2020 would have left by next season.

Baxter is still behind his decision to re-sign most of the group but now has to deal with the impacts of the salary cap.

However, the director of rugby feels the decision to keep the team together was the right one bearing in mind the success the club had.

“I spoke to the board three years ago when we re-signed the group pretty much en-masse for either two or three years, that it would be a real challenge for us to keep that quality of squad beyond the length of those contracts because of age, experience, what they’d achieved and the changing in the cap,” he added.

“It’s not something by doing that you couldn’t have known was coming, but we took that choice and kept that squad together and won a Heineken Cup.

“There was a choice to be made then, and we made that choice, and now we are now in the process of what we’re going through.

“But at this stage we’ve qualified for the last 16 of the Heineken Cup, we’re fifth in the Premiership, we’re going through a process, but the players are still buying in.”

Different stages of a career

Baxter believes most of the players leaving are at a stage in their career where they may be looking for new challenges.

“Most of these guys leaving have played international rugby here and have won trophies, and they’re either over 30 or getting to 30 and there’s the opportunity to try something else before their careers end,” Baxter said.

“Some of it’s linked to money, some of it’s linked to opportunity, some of it’s linked to new experiences.

“We’ve got a big group coming to that stage of their career, and I’ve said to every one of them individually I don’t hold any grudges, I don’t hold anything about it, I can understand where they are in their careers, that’s where it is.

“We haven’t tried to make it difficult for them, we haven’t tried to be awkward about it, because the hardest things I’ve had to do in my career is let players who wanted to stay, ask them to leave because we’ve moved on.

“People don’t see that side of it, they see these guys going and think it’s a one-way street.

“But when we let a player go who’s got older but has played 100s of games for us they say ‘well he’s older now and he’s dropped out of the first team, it’s the right thing to do’, when it’s a current player it feels weird.

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“But these guys have got their reasons, and they’re not wrong reasons, I’m not sitting here saying ‘this is feeling bad’ because of an internal issue, it doesn’t feel like that.

“We’ve got challenges, but we’re dealing with them, it’s not an issue some people would try and make it out to be.”

As reported by Foot Mercato, OGC Nice have made Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar their main transfer target to strengthen their midfield during the final week of the summer window.

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Aouar has long seen varied interest over a move away from Lyon after he turned down a €50m move to Arsenal two summers ago but concrete offers have rarely materialised. However, the 24-year-old was close to joining newly-promoted Premier League side Nottingham Forest who still haven’t completely given up Aouar with the move “on stand-by” after talks fell apart. Leicester City were also pushing to sign the France international this summer as were Real Betis.

Despite being Nice coach Lucien Favre’s priority, the Swiss has asked his club to do all they can to sign Aouar, Les Aiglons’ approach will be tough to see through with OL keen not to sell the player to a direct rival despite him having just one year left on his Lyon contract. Aouar has been indecisive over his future this summer and was reportedly waiting for Premier League interest with OL’s €15m valuation a 75% decrease on their 2020 demands.

According to Santi Aouna OGC Nice attacker Amine Gouiri and his entourage prefers a move to Rennes over a return to former club Lyon. The French journalist reports that  Lyon’s interest in Gouiri is not reciprocated by the player. Gouiri reportedly wasn’t happy with how the club treated him before his departure having never had a chance to shine for OL.

The 22-year-old attacker left Lyon in 2020 having struggled for game time after graduating from the club’s academy but OL are keen to undo what many fans saw as a mistake, especially considering a thrilling first season and a half for the Frenchman at Nice. However, it would have been a costly move for OL with Nice demanding €30m to allow the player to leave the Allianz Riviera despite reportedly frosty relations with new coach Lucien Favre.

Gouiri has many offers with Rennes (a club which Aouna reports would be more favourable for Gouiri and his entourage)  in talks with Nice over an audacious player trade involving their striker Gaëtan Laborde while the player and his entourage are investigating a move to the Premier League with English clubs sounded out in recent days.

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Fly-half Johnny Sexton has announced that he will be fit for the start of the Six Nations, providing a huge boost for Ireland head coach Andy Farrell.

The playmaker suffered a broken cheekbone on New Year’s Day when he collided with Connacht’s Jarrad Butler.

Sexton had surgery to correct the issue but missed the Irish province’s Champions Cup victories over Gloucester and Racing 92.

There were concerns that he would be absent for Ireland’s Six Nations opener against Wales, but the 37-year-old has allayed those fears.

The Masked Sexton

“(I’m) good to go; I was training last week, just had a funny face mask on,” he said.

“Keep that on this week in training and it comes off next week, so good to go next week.

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“At the time the European games were at the forefront of my mind. When you figure out you’re not going to be able to play in them, the Six Nations then (comes to mind).

“But from early doors, the surgeon and the doctor they were fine and just said it’s probably the best injury to have on your face, so that was nice to know!

“If you could pick one bone, pick that one.”

Sexton is undoubtedly the country’s first choice fly-half, with either Ross Byrne or Jack Crowley stepping in should the Ireland centurion not be available.

Crowley and Byrne have got in over Munster’s first choice pivot Joey Carbery, who was a surprise omission from Farrell’s initial squad named last Thursday.

Good form

“I understand it (the reaction) because it’s not as though he’s been playing poorly, his form has been pretty good,” the head coach said of Carbery.

“But there’s been a bit of feedback, like we do with a lot of players who didn’t make the squad, and Joey understands that.

“Ross Byrne has been getting feedback for the last couple of years and couldn’t get in the room.

“He’s improved on things we’ve been asking of him, so he gets the chance to see whether he can convert to the international stage, he’s earned the right to be able to do that

“And 100 per cent Joey will be working away hard to get back in.

“Everyone has some improvement in them; Johnny is top of the tree as far as his career is concerned but he’ll be the first to tell you he’s got things to work on, so everyone has.

“It’s a great place for us to be. A little bit of depth, a little bit of competition, people fighting to be part of this Irish squad.”

Owen Farrell could miss England's Six Nations opener against Scotland next month after being cited for a dangerous tackle during Saracens' 19-16 Premiership win over Gloucester.The Saracens fly-half, 31, is in line to start for England in Steve Borthwick's first game in charge, against Scotland at Twickenham on February 4.CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD AND HOSPITALITY TICKETS FOR THE HSBC SYDNEY SEVENSBut he could be sidelined following what appeared to be a high, shoulder-led charge on Gloucester replacement Jack Clement near the end of a tense encounter at Kingsholm on Friday, where Farrell landed a winning drop-goal with the last kick of the game.A statement issued Monday by England's governing Rugby Football Union on Monday said Farrell had been cited for "dangerous tackling".He will now face a disciplinary hearing at 1830 GMT on Tuesday.Match referee Karl Dickson took no on-field action against Farrell, after what appeared to be a miscommunication with the T|V match official. But citing commissioner James Hall has ruled Farrell, appointed England captain by former coach Eddie Jones, does have a case to answer after the stand-off's shoulder made contact with Clement's chin.Mid-range dangerous tackles, including contact to the head, come with a six-week ban, which can be halved with a good disciplinary record. Suspensions can also be reduced if offenders agree to undergo a course in improving their tackling technique.Farrell was banned for five games in 2020 following a high tackle on Wasps player Charlie Atkinson, and questions about his technique have been raised before, notably when he escaped sanction for a shoulder charge on South Africa's Andre Esterhuizen at Twickenham in 2018.Punishments for suspensions incurred at domestic level in rugby union can also be applied to international matches.Farrell's hearing created another headache for Borthwick, among the crowd at Kingsholm, following injuries to back-row Tom Curry and hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie.  Asked about the Clement incident, Saracens rugby director Mark McCall said after the match: "I was pitchside for the last three or four minutes, so I haven't seen it yet."I have heard there is a potential high tackle that I will have to look at."Gloucester coach George Skivington said: "It is really tricky to comment on it. I don't want to end up in a judiciary myself, so I have to keep shtum. I will just say that consistency across games will be good."Click Here: Edinson Cavani jersey sale

Dave Rennie is looking for Reds duo James O'Connor and Suliasi Vunivalu to push their way into contention via Super Rugby as the Wallabies begin preparations for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.Rennie has assembled a 44-player squad on the Gold Coast for the week, with the high-profile backs the major omissions.CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD AND HOSPITALITY TICKETS FOR THE HSBC SYDNEY SEVENS“It’s the advantage of a lot of injuries I guess, we’ve used a lot of players last year and there’s more competition for places now which is really good," he told reporters“We’ve got a couple of guys who would normally be in Japan recovering from long term injuries so it’s nice to have Quade and Samu in here.“…It’s a massive year, it’s exciting. We’re going to light a fire over the next couple of days and work hard that we head up north in the best possible condition to play our best footy over the last four years.”O'Connor was one of five flyhalves selected to start in 2022, however, found himself dropped from the squad altogether after a thumping defeat in Argentina.An ankle injury ended his season early, with Rennie impressed with how the 32-year-old has applied himself to rehab.“I had a good chat to ‘Rabs’ prior to us announcing the team," he revealed. "He’s come back from injury, back training fully and actually in really good nick running quicker than we’ve seen over the past couple of years.“He looks sharper so his focus is playing good Super Rugby and putting pressure on us to select him in the camp in April. That’s the message we’ve given to a number of fringe players."As for Vunivalu, Rennie pointed to the importance of providing the repeat efforts that have helped the likes of Nark Nawaqanitawase break out at Test level.“Suli has got really clear messages,” he explained. “We need to see him run fast. We need to see him open up and repeat of speed efforts. We know his ability aerially is excellent. He needs to put in good performances at Super (Rugby) level. He had a couple of runs with Australia A and needs to build on it."What we saw from Mark Nawaqanitawase is a man who’s equally good (as Vunivalu) aerially, but is good all over the park. His speed and repeat speed was excellent as was his post-tackle work and his defensive work“He grabbed his opportunity and played the best three games of his life at Test level. The challenge for him now is to make sure that he comes in and wants to be better. That’s the message he’ll get over the next couple of days.”The Wallabies boss also confirmed Taniela Tupou was unlikely to feature in Super Rugby Pacific, with the priority maximising his game-time heading into the Rugby Championship.“We’ll take over his recovery. He’ll still have a role to play at the Reds but not on the playing field," Rennie added.“…The first avenue (for his return) will be club Rugby, which I’m sure will excite Brothers. We plan on having a couple of Australia A games potentially. We’re just looking for the chance to get some footy into him.“Hopefully he recovers a little quicker and he can play the back end of Super Rugby.”Click Here: Virgil van Dijk Jersey Sale

As reported by L’Équipe, PSG are plotting a late transfer window swoop for Valencia’s Spanish midfielder Carlos Soler.

The 25-year-old Spain international (nine caps, three goals) has just one year left on his current contract at Valencia and his availability this summer is considered a major market opportunity by the Paris club. PSG see the player as more of a creator than an organising midfielder and he would be part of the midfield rotation within the squad say the sports daily.

Talks have already opened over a move with the transfer window closing on Thursday, just two days from now, but the PSG leadership are hoping to close the deal very quickly. A transfer fee of just over €15m is being discussed between the parties.

The central midfielder has played 225 senior games for the La Liga outfit having graduated from the club’s youth system. In that time he’s provided 36 goals and 31 assists across all competitions.

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L’Équipe affirm that Premier League side Leicester City have honed in on Belgian international central defender Wout Fees as a replacement for Wesley Fofana, who is joining Chelsea for more than €85m.

The Foxes have scouted the 24-year-old Stade de Reims defender heavily over several months and Faes has been removed from the SDR squad to face Angers during this mid-week as a result of his imminent transfer.

The deal thrashed out between Reims and Leicester is that Faes will make the move for €20m including bonuses, where he will sign a 5-year contract with LCFC.

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Stormers and Springboks scrum-half Herschel Jantjies is delighted to be fit again and determined to take his game up a notch during the rest of 2023.

Jantjies spent the last month on the sidelines with a rib injury but made a try-scoring return after coming off the bench for the Cape Town-based franchise during their home victory over Clermont Auvergne in the Champions Cup last week.

Key player for the Stormers

The 26-year-old was a key player during the Stormers’ victorious 2021/22 United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign, but injuries have limited him to just five appearances in that competition this season.

“Missing out on a few games at home and on tour due to injury has been really frustrating,” Jantjies told the Stormers’ official website. “In saying that, it gave me some time to reflect and make sure I am still on the right path.

“Last week’s game was very special and I think the way we came back from our first half performance shows what we stand for as the DHL Stormers and hopefully says something about the standards that we set for ourselves.”

Jantjies will start amongst the replacements when the Stormers resume their URC campaign against Ulster at the Kingspan Stadium on Friday, as the champions aim to return to winning ways in the tournament after losing their previous match against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun on January 8.

With the likes of captain Steven Kitshoff and fellow Springbok prop Frans Malherbe not included in the Stormers squad for the trip to Ulster, Jantjies will have a key role to play as one of the senior players in a relatively inexperienced team which includes youngsters like Suleiman Hartzenberg and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who are aged 19 and 20 respectively.

“I think with the long season, it’s good for the boys [Kitshoff and Malherbe] to get a bit of a breather! We need them firing when it’s crunch time,” he said.

“I really enjoy the challenge of leadership, it’s always great to contribute in whatever way possible. I am in a very fortunate position and am definitely very blessed to be seen in a leadership position, and my number one priority is to lead with my performances and the way that I carry myself between the four lines. The rest of the stuff is purely a bonus.”

The previous match between the Stormers and Ulster was last season’s tightly contested semi-final in Cape Town, when an injury-time conversion from Manie Libbok sealed a memorable win for the home side.

Jantjies expects a tougher challenge for the Stormers in their first visit to Kingspan Stadium.

“Ulster will be a different monster in the sense that they are at home and are used to the conditions and the fact that they are playing in front of what will hopefully be a packed home crowd for them,” he added.

Eyeing World Cup spot with Springboks

Although Jantjies was delighted to cross the whitewash against Clermont, he is determined to grow his game as he aims to be included in South Africa‘s squad when they defend their title at the Rugby World Cup in France later this year.

“Tries are always fun and contributing in any way possible is what it’s all about,” he said. “It was a step in the right direction and for me, it’s always been about chasing myself and trying to improve and adapt.

“Sometimes things don’t go your way, but I believe that if I keep working hard and keep on trying, things will eventually go my way. The goal now is to work even harder and to make sure my name is with no doubt on that World Cup list.”

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The son of legendary All Blacks and Blues fly-half Carlos Spencer, Payton, marked his New Zealand Sevens debut with two tries against Uruguay on Friday.

Spencer, 18, grabbed a brace and set up another try in the 45-7 victory as the All Blacks Sevens opened their tournament account in decent style in Sydney.

Carter to Spencer

His first score came from another familiar name, Carter, but Leroy is no relation to Dan, with Spencer showing his pace as he breezed under the uprights.

The youngster looked very much at home at senior level as his first tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series illustrated what potential the player has.

That impressive try on three minutes was followed by Spencer assisting Brady Rush’s score four minutes into the second half as New Zealand pulled away.

Like father, like son 💫

Payton Spencer grabs his first try for @nz_sevens! 👊

The son of former All Black Carlos Spencer #Sydney7s | #HSBC7s pic.twitter.com/lkWXvu1kYU

— World Rugby 7s (@WorldRugby7s) January 27, 2023

Spencer was not done there though, as he again showed his pace to claim his second try before Akuila Rokolisoa went over for the final score of the game.

“Not bad at all. I wasn’t expecting to score any, let alone two so yeah it is neat,” Spencer told the All Blacks Sevens Twitter account after his debut effort.

“It all feels quite magical at the moment to say the least so it’s amazing, (I feel) privileged,” he added following a special first run-out to his Sevens career.

Two tries on debut –
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— NZ Sevens (@nz_sevens) January 27, 2023

Carlos Spencer played for the All Blacks 44 times, scoring 383 points, with his mercurial talent keeping supporters on the edge of their seat during games.

It appears that Payton is a chip off the old block as he starts his senior career on the Sevens circuit, with a move to XVs no doubt soon on the horizon.

The All Blacks Sevens, who are atop World Rugby’s Sevens Series table, are keen to respond from last week’s loss in the final to Argentina in Hamilton.