IN long-term recruitment news that may well prick up the ears of England boss Steve Borthwick, Clermont’s international tighthead prop – and definitive proof of the concept of nominative determinism – Regis Montagne has become, following Toulouse full-back Thomas Ramos and Agen winger Lucas Martins, the third player to shift the dial in what already promises to be a red-hot transfer market for the 2027/28 domestic season in France.
That’s not a typo. No, you didn’t go to bed last night and miss the end of August. And, yes, the 2026/27 ProD2 kicks off this Thursday, while the resumption of the Top 14 is still the better part of a fortnight away.
Heck, the first pre-season matches involving Top 14 sides took place this week. For the record, Castres beat Montauban 31-7 in their first outing, while Bayonne eased away from Biarritz in the second half of their debut to win 42-26 in the earliest Top 14 outings of the summer.
But, more and more reports are dropping about player-club switches at the far-end of the upcoming campaign. Ramos to Racing was the big one to date, for obvious reasons; Martins won’t tilt the dial as much, but he’s a real try-scoring talent – Castres may just have pulled off a quiet coup, there.
This is becoming an increasingly common occurrence. Scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec’s move from Racing 92 to La Rochelle for the start of the 2025/26 season was confirmed in August 2024. Last July, Bayonne announced they had signed another scrum-half, Leo Coly, from Montpellier for the campaign that’s about to begin.
We’re in a part of the recruitment cycle that was once re-
served for contract extension news, as clubs issued a clear and public hands-off to potential suitors.
But the process moves so quickly these days that extensions are, with notable exceptions – looking your way, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Bordeaux – confirmed much earlier, before rival clubs are, officially, permitted to approach players’ agents with an offer.
Antoine Dupont’s was very publicly signed seven months before it was officially necessary. Bielle-Biarrey’s will be soon enough. There may be rival offers on his agent’s table, but everything points to an extension once the bits and pieces are sorted.
Bielle-Biarrey apart, the message is clear – leave contract talks just a little too long, or go lowball with a big-name player, and another side will sweep in with a head-turner of an offer.
Which brings us back to Montagne. Pierre Mignoni’s Toulon reportedly beat Toulouse and La Rochelle – as well as his current side Clermont – in a rapidly developing bidding war for the signature of Montagne, below, a rare functioning French tighthead. The news hasn’t gone down too well at Stade Marcel Michelin. Questioned by Midi Olympique at a training camp in the Alps, general manager Benoit Vaz refused to comment. Later, manager
Christophe Urios said: “I’m waiting for him to officially tell me.”
So, the 25-year-old will swap France’s volcano country and the famous yellow of Clermont for the Var’s Mediterranean coast and the rouge-et-noir of Toulon on a four-year deal after – fitness and form willing – the Rugby World Cup in Australia.
And this, in
Prize asset: Kyle Sinckler in action for Toulon
turn, is where Borthwick might take an interest.
A few months ago, rumours started swirling that Toulon’s English prop Kyle Sinckler, under contract through to 2027, was eager to return to England and make a push for the World Cup squad.
But reports in the Daily Mail that he was considering an early departure this summer have proved wide of the mark. Mignoni made it perfectly clear that Sinckler was going to, at least, see out his contract. And the club’s pre-season social media posts include several that feature the prop.
This doesn’t mean, however, the tighthead is necessarily unavailable for selection for England’s World Cup squad. Even accounting for Toulon’s play-off ambitions, Sinckler’s current contract with the club finishes at the end of June 2027. His professional future beyond that date is – as far as we know, at least – undetermined.
Will he sign an extension to stay at Toulon that would keep him off Borthwick’s radar? It’s possible, but there’s no credible indication of movement in that direction at the moment. Could he sign with an English PREM side, and almost instantly become selectable next
July 1? It’s definitely not out of the question.
Montagne’s 2027 arrival at Stade Mayol certainly suggests front row changes are in the air. Tight-head stocks at the club are stacked towards the veteran end of the scale at the moment. Sinckler is 33; Beka Gigashvili is 34; Rabah Slimani, who arrived on a one-season deal from Leinster this summer, is 36. All three are out of contract next June.
The club has a promising youngster on its books in France under-20 international Owen Sorhaindo, who played five Top 14 matches off the bench last season and is likely to get more gametime in the next few months. But, even with Montagne the likely first-choice No.3 after next year’s World Cup, Toulon will need further back-up in a key position.
An experiment with Dany Priso
“The Toulon prop may be available to Steve Borthwick if he opts to return home next season”
occasionally switching sides from loosehead last season worked reasonably well, but is hardly a complete answer.
So Toulon would be keen to keep hold of at least one of Sinckler and Gigashvili. But if the former is determined to have one last pitch at a World Cup, it seems most likely that the club will have their sights on extending the Georgian’s contract for one, maybe two more campaigns. Toulon aren’t going to stop at Montagne. They’re in pole position to sign Bayonne’s wantaway 23-year-old Esteban Capilla to refresh an ageing back row.
Capilla will be looking for redemption over the next couple of seasons. His international stocks sank somewhat in July, as he became one of seven travelling French players not to feature for Les Bleus during their three-match Nations Championship tour of New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Toulon may be able to offer that.
But Montagne’s arrival at Toulon – and what that might indicate for Sinckler and, possibly, England – is arguably the bigger recruitment news. Courteney Lawes left Brive for Sale with the stated ambition of a tilt at the England shirt. Why not Sinckler?
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