It’s looking like London Irish speedster Ollie Hassell-Collins will be leaving the club next summer with Leicester Tigers his reported destination.
Respected rugby scribe Jon Newcombe wrote on Twitter today: “I’m hearing from a good source that Ollie Hassell-Collins’ move to Leicester is now a done deal but Ben Loader has re-signed with Irish.”
The winger scored the joint second-most tries for Irish in the 2021/22 season, with 11 in 26 appearances in all competitions alongside Benhard Janse van Rensburg.
His 168 carries sitauted him in the top 20 Premiership players in that category, with his 1,761 metres made earning him fourth place in the respective category.
His 22 linebreaks was the most by any player in the regular 2021/22 season, only beaten by Harlequins’ Cadan Murley in the postseason with 23, with 63 tackle breaks putting him in the top 10 of any player in the Premiership that season
Cokanasiga coming home?
England winger Joe Cokanasiga is set to depart Bath as the black, blue and whites look to reduce their current wage bill to accommodate new signings.
According to The Rugby Paper, London Irish are bidding to re-sign the England speedster ahead of the 2023/24 Premiership season.
Born in Fiji, Cokanasiga moved to England ahead of his third birthday and was signed on by the London Irish Academy in 2015, making an impact in the Premiership Rugby Sevens tournament a year later.
He made his senior debut for Irish in the Championship and earned a switch to Bath in 2018. He earned his international debut in the same year, scoring against Japan, and has continued his fine scoring form for Eddie Jones’ side with 11 tries in his first 11 caps.
England’s Autumn Nations Series squad ranked from best to worst:
What we’ve done is taken every England players ‘rating’ from each game of the Autumn Nations Series and averaged their score with powerhouse Joe Cokanasiga coming out on top.
1. Joe Cokanasiga – 7
- Argentina: 7
- Japan: 7
- New Zealand: N/A
- South Africa: N/A
2. Maro Itoje – 6.87
- Argentina: 6
- Japan: 7.5
- New Zealand: 7
- South Africa: 7
3. Guy Porter – 6.75
- Argentina: N/A
- Japan: 8.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: N/A
4. Ellis Genge – 6.37
- Argentina: 7
- Japan: 8.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 5
5=. Sam Simmonds – 6.25
- Argentina: 5
- Japan: 8
- New Zealand: 7
- South Africa: 5
5=. Freddie Steward – 6.25
- Argentina: 6
- Japan: 9
- New Zealand: 6
- South Africa: 4
