TRANSFER | Bristol Bears playmaker to leave at the end of the season
Rugby NewsMonday, 23 March 2020 at 17:23
Nic Stirzaker will depart Bristol Bears at the end of the campaign.
The scrum half is set to join Montauban in the French PROD2 and leaves Ashton Gate following two seasons with the club.
Stirzaker made just 18 competitive appearances in a Bears jersey and had been tipped for an England call-up prior to his arrival at Ashton gate from Melbourne Rebels in 2018.
Director of Rugby Pat Lam said: “Nic is a consummate professional who has been a really positive influence for our young players and an excellent team man to have around the environment.
“His communication skills and leadership have helped our team develop and his performances on and off the field have contributed to our growth as a team.
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“Nic speaks excellent French and his wife Estelle hails from France. We completely support them both in this move and for the next chapter of his career.
“We wish them all the best and know they will have an amazing life experience of playing and living in France.”
He made this unfortunate list back in 2019.
Some turned it around, but others including Stirzaker didn't...
Ranked! The 5 worst Premiership signings of the 2018/19 season
Oh dear, oh dear. However much we will them on, sometimes deals just don’t turn out the way we hoped – or anything like it, as these disasters demonstrate.
5. Nick Stirzaker (Bristol Bears)
The London-born scrum-half was an exciting signing from the Melbourne Rebels but played only 13.9% of minutes this season. Described as having the best pass in Australia by former Wallabies halfback and 1991 World Cup-winning captain, Nick Farr-Jones, Bears fans would have hoped for a lot more.
4. Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers)
His return to Leicester Tigers proved a brief one. The prolific winger rejoined Tigers at the turn of the year after a brief spell in France but made just two appearances before leaving for China. A waste of time.
3. Victor Delmas (Bath Rugby)
The tighthead was an exciting addition to the black, blue and whites squad for the 2018/19 season. However, he's struggled to find his feet in the Gallagher Premiership and was rated Bath's second-worst player this season by with an average rating of 5.5.
2. Dom Barrow (Northampton Saints)
He joined the Saints as a marquee signing for the 2018/19 season but had an injury-disrupted spell which meant the 25-year-old failed to make an impact. The former Leicester Tigers and Newcastle Falcons lock left Franklin’s Gardens by “mutual consent” in March after seven uninspiring outings in the black, green and gold.
1. Lima Sopoaga (Wasps)
Sopoaga was labelled the worst signing of the season by Owen Slot and Alex Lowe in their season review for The Times, saying the 28-year-old's first year was almost ironic. The former Highlander was signed by Wasps for double the money they paid Danny Cipriani, who went onto win player of the year at his new club Gloucester.
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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