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Here’s a look at five of the pre-campaign arrivals:
Cobus Reinach (RSA)
Rugby World Cup winner Reinach signed a three-year contract in Montpellier where he will join Handre Pollard to create a Springbok midfielder association.
Reinach arrives from Northampton Saints, where he had been shortlisted for the English Premiership Player of the Season award in 2019 in a campaign in which he scored 12 tries in 22 league matches.
Kurtley Beale (AUS)
The 92-time Australian player has joined Racing 92 and will complement an already international three-quarter squad that includes Scotland’s midfielder Finn Russell, France pair Virimi Vakatawa and Teddy Thomas, as well as Ireland winger Simon Zebo.
Beale, who may appear on the bottom line, is still eligible for the Wallabies due to the number of his test picks, but he has yet to be named on one of new head coach Dave Rennie’s monthly watch lists.
Kotaro Matsushima (Japan)
Japan’s three-quarters have signed a two-year deal with Clermont to replace the late Nick Abendanon as fullback despite being solely on the wing during last year’s World Cup.
Matsushima will become the sixth homegrown Japanese player to feature in France’s two professional divisions after players like fullback Ayumu Goromaru and hooker Takeshi Hino for Toulon and Toulouse respectively.
He will add a first-class finishing ability, which is underlined by his record of 22 attempts in 39 events, to a baseline that already includes former All Black center George Moala and French winger Alivereti Raka.
Will Skelton (AUS)
Australia’s 2.07 meter second row heads to La Rochelle after winning the European Cup and Premiership twice with the Saracens, who have been relegated to the English second division for breach of the salary cap.
Skelton, 28, who has 18 caps for Wallabies, is replacing French lock Thomas Jolmes and will be in a group alongside two-time New Zealand World Cup winner Victor Vito, fellow Australian international Lopeti Timani and the French pillar Uini Atonio. .
Izaia Perese (AUS)
The Australian has code-crossed again arriving in Bayonne from the Brisbane Broncos after being released by the NRL team in February for drug-related offenses.
The 23-year-old Perese previously played for the Reds Super Rugby team, scoring four attempts in 17 appearances and attracting the attention of then-Wallabies coach Michael Cheika with a squad recall in 2017.
