Sunday Snippets

Horwill on the move: According to reports emanating out of both England and Australia, Wallabies second row forward James Horwill has agreed personal terms on a contract with English Premiership outfit Harlequins. Horwill, a former Wallaby skipper, has 56 caps to his name in the famous Green and Gold jersey of Australia and at just 29, has a lot left to offer from the engine room. The reports suggest that the current Queensland Reds skipper will link up with Conor O’Shea’s men at the close of the 2015 Rugby World Cup next October. In what is understood to be a deal worth over the £300,000 mark, Horwill would become one of the highest paid forwards in the Aviva Premiership. 29 year old Horwill is expected to be one of a raft of arrivals on English and European soil in general after next year’s showpiece event, with fellow Wallabies Will Genia and Adam Ashley-Cooper also reportedly on the move to Bath and Toulon respectively. Horwill is a part of Michael Cheika’s squad who travel to Europe this month to take on a host of Northern Hemisphere nations including both England and Wales who are in their Pool at next year’s World Cup.

Burrell Worry: England head coach Stuart Lancaster is waking up to yet more injury news this week, as reports emerge of an injury to Northampton Saints centre Luther Burrell. Burrell sustained a troublesome hand injury in the opening half of Saints’ comfortable 34-6 win over Welsh outfit the Ospreys, but re-emerged for the second half, before leaving just 5 minutes in, complaining of pain in his hand. According to Saints boss Jim Mallinder, Burrell is struggling to sustain any solid form of grip in his right hand and will undergo multiple scans later today to confirm the true extent of the injury and a potential timeframe for his absence. Having lost star midfielder Manu Tuilagi last weekend, Lancaster will be undoubtedly keen to get Burrell back to action as soon as humanly possible, although he may have to plan without the rampaging centre, after Mallinder revealed the injury is to the bone rather than a muscle. Burrell partnered Billy Twelvetrees in the absence of Manu Tuilagi throughout the course of the 2014 Six Nations.

Ryan Sheady