{"id":550215,"date":"2025-11-05T07:35:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T07:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/550215\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T07:35:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T07:35:10","slug":"all-blacks-star-set-to-move-to-england-to-swap-nations-next-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/550215\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks star set to move to England to swap nations\u00a0next summer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Former All Black Hoskins Sotutu is once again being linked with a move to the Gallagher Premiership when his contract with the Blues and New Zealand Rugby expires in 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Join the <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3s8fWrj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">RUCK\u2019s WhatsApp community here<\/a>\u00a0and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.<\/p>\n<p>The Auckland-born No.\u202f8, 27, is a versatile international prospect, eligible for three countries:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>New Zealand<\/strong>\u00a0(birth)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fiji<\/strong>\u00a0(father Waisake)<\/li>\n<li><strong>England<\/strong>\u00a0(mother Adelita, Director of Sport at Howick College, Auckland)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>He has made 80 appearances for the Blues and earned 14 caps for the All Blacks, with his last appearance ironically coming against England in November 2022. <\/p>\n<p>Sotutu declined a recall for the 2024 All Blacks autumn tour \u2014 widely seen as keeping his options open.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Career Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>2024 Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year<\/li>\n<li>NPC experience: Auckland &amp; Counties Manukau<\/li>\n<li>Featured for AUNZ Invitational XV vs British &amp; Irish Lions<\/li>\n<li>Known for ball-carrying, physicality, and work-rate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Premiership Links<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sotutu has attracted strong interest from several top English clubs:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Gloucester:<\/strong>\u00a0Linked after losing Zach Mercer, Ruan Ackermann, and Albert Tuisue<\/li>\n<li><strong>Saracens:<\/strong>\u00a0Reportedly favourites after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruck.co.uk\/england-star-quits-after-steve-borthwick-meeting-weeks-after-signing-central-deal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tom Willis confirmed his move to Bordeaux<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Other interested clubs:<\/strong>\u00a0Newcastle Falcons, Leicester Tigers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>He could also be offered an Enhanced Elite Player Squad contract (\u00a3150,000 per year) to make a Premiership move more appealing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>International Outlook<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sotutu could qualify to represent England by November 2025 under World Rugby\u2019s three-year stand-down rule. <\/p>\n<p>Highly regarded by England head coach Steve Borthwick, he has reportedly already spoken with the coach. <\/p>\n<p>A move to the Premiership could pave the way for an England call-up, potentially making him the perfect replacement for Tom Willis.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Transfer Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sotutu\u2019s agent has been actively exploring overseas opportunities<\/li>\n<li>Declined All Blacks recall to keep international options open<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>EDITORS PICKS:<\/p>\n<p>Like this:<\/p>\n<p>Like Loading&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"sd-link-color\"\/>\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former All Black Hoskins Sotutu is once again being linked with a move to the Gallagher Premiership when&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-550215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}