Dai has previously hinted that it is now (in November) that next season's contracts are offered, and those who will be released will also, I suspect, be informed. All with the intent of everyone knowing where they stand before the New Year, which is when other prem clubs can contact our players. Except Academy players. Then, in January, Dai can talk to external senior players to fill any gaps. I am hoping there will be very few gaps this year, and those that there may be, may be filled with Academy players being promoted. Then I think he talks to Academy players in March.
That's not to say conversations cannot be had before then. In Tibo's case. I agree.
Does he, by being in the Academy this year, qualify as 'home grown', as he has not been in any other academy? Someone mentioned a rule about them signing at 18, but I can't find a mention of this in the rules. Tibo's route into pro rugby was rather unusual. Given his lack of physique at 18, nobody was interested in him. It was only his desire that kept him playing, as it does for so many amateurs. Then he went to Argentina, bulked up, switched from a lanky FH to beefy Lock and came back as we see him, and continued to work with a local (to Wasps) club and train the youngsters there, again in his role as keen amateur, and that way came to the notice of someone who brought him to the attention of Wasps some weeks before the Sevens. Wasps signed him up and gave him a no risk punt at the Sevens, and he was a revelation. The rest, they say, is history. To see a lock who sidesteps the tackle and then accelerates away is most unusual. The crowd on Saturday saw him do just that and make many yards as a result.
What I wonder is, how long before a French club offer him a lot of money? Right now he has to be worth upwards of £50k. How long before the French national team start to look at him? The French are not limited by our 'no contact' contract rules.
Always a Wasp
