With the departure of Nicolas Martins and the missed appointment for the extension of Caleb Timu, the leaders from Colomiers had to focus on the third row.
At this time of year, we are talking more about marginal recruitment than overall strategy. It must be said that the squads are mostly made up for next season. This is the case for Colomiers rugby, which simply had to find a replacement for Nicolas Martins, whose commitment to Racing 92 came late. This has been done, with the agreement and soon-to-be signed contract of Richard Hardwick (for two years). The Namibian international (31 years old, with 7 caps after 2 with Australia) has been playing for two seasons with Grenoble, where he made a place for himself in the back row (32 matches). Trained in Australian franchises (Force and Rebels), and coming to Europe through the Ealing Trailfinders (English D2), he will bring his “wall-breaker” profile (1.83m, 106kg) to the supporters of Bendichou.
And it’s not insignificant, as the usual reference in the field, Caleb Timu (32 years old), will not extend his stay in Haute-Garonne, after several changes of mind. As a reminder, a replacement was found for him several months ago, in the form of Tuaina Taii Tualima. His shoulder injury, which worried the Colomiers staff, turned out not to be serious. He will actually start this Saturday, with the Brumbies, against the Fijian Drua.
Furthermore, it is now clear that Arthur Diaz will be preferred to Albi to get playing time. The half-backs Ugo Séguela, Jules Danglot, Natan Culinat, and Guillaume Laffont will remain. The versatile back Matias Osadczuk, who arrived as a medical joker last September and then as an additional player, will not be retained (according to our colleagues at La Dépêche, he is associated with Narbonne). In the other direction, the loan of Lucas Vignères to Stade Toulousain is well underway.
