Bath look to steal Will Genia away from French clutches
When he is operating at full tilt, Genia is right up there with the best half-backs in the game
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Your support makes all the difference.Bath failed to lure the exiled England flanker Steffon Armitage back across the water from Toulon earlier this month, despite the lavish amounts of money the West Countrymen have to chuck around, but they may well nail down the services of an even higher-achieving player in Will Genia.
The Wallaby scrum-half, currently in London at the start of Australia’s five-match tour of the British Isles and France, indicated yesterday that he would be seeking a move to Europe following next year’s World Cup.
It would be a significant capture for the Recreation Grounders. Genia may no longer be master of all he surveys in the Wallaby environment – injuries have opened the door for rival No 9s, with Nick Phipps performing particularly impressively during the recent southern hemisphere Test campaign.
But when he is operating at full tilt, the man from Papua New Guinea is right up there with the best half-backs in the game. And he will be only 27 when he heads north.
Genia and Bath have been linked for some weeks, even though a number of wealthy French Top 14 sides are interested in his signature, and now that the much talked about rugby league player Sam Burgess has arrived at The Rec, there is added impetus behind the deal.
“The chance to play with someone with as special a talent as that is appealing,” Genia said. “You always want to play with inspirational people. It is definitely something that would weigh into the decision.
“Guys are going to look at their options, whether it be here in England, in France, or elsewhere. You don’t come away on tour looking to meet people and whatnot, but you have to understand that these things are a reality.”
The Wallabies open their account against the Barbarians at Twickenham this weekend, and one of their own, the popular wing Nick Cummins, nicknamed the “honey badger” and described as the “world’s most Australian man”, will start for the opposition under the captaincy of the Scotland lock Alastair Kellock.
It is far from a vintage Baa-Baas selection, but with a Springbok centre in Juan de Jongh, a Lions prop in the England international Matt Stevens and an all-New Zealand back row in Adam Thomson, Matt Todd and Steven Luatua, the team has at least something going for it.
Harlequins, down to their last outside-half (albeit an outstanding one in the All Black playmaker Nick Evans), have signed the English-qualified Tim Swiel from the Durban-based Sharks on a short-term deal. Swiel, born in Somerset, comes to The Stoop as cover for Ben Botica, who will not return until the new year after shoulder surgery
Leicester have bolstered their back-line options by recruiting 22-year-old centre Jack Roberts from second-tier Rotherham. The Tigers have injury issues just about everywhere but midfield has been a particular problem recently.
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