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James Fender has attracted interest in his services for the past 12 months or so
Uncapped Ospreys second-row James Fender is close to signing for French Pro D2 club Grenoble.
Reports in France over the weekend claimed that the French club, who already have Welshman Sam Davies on their books, had revived their interest in the 24-year-old lock – having been close to signing him last summer.
WalesOnline understands that Grenoble essentially have first refusal on Fender following their pursuit of him last July, with a move looking likely.
There has also been interest from some other French clubs, as well as teams in England, for the uncapped second-row.
Some of the other regions – unsurprisingly given that the future of four professional clubs in Wales is in doubt – have made enquiries about Fender.
Fender had been desperately close to leaving Wales last summer – with Fender even appearing on the Pro D2’s official website as a registered player after a deal was agreed in principle.
Ultimately, the Ospreys didn’t agree to release Fender from his contract a year early – even with the offer of a transfer fee of over £100,000.
The fact that Fender would have also been captured by the 25-cap rule, despite not being capped, was also a factor in the move falling apart.
As one of 60 players of national interest, Fender’s Test eligibility was at stake were the Ospreys to let him go.
Had the Ospreys signed off on his move with the approval of the Professional Rugby Board, he would have been captured by the rule.
If they released him without approval of the PRB, he would have remained eligible for Test solution.
To further muddy the waters, it’s understood Fender wasn’t aware he was part of the PNI list.
Quite what a move to France ahead of next season means for his Test eligibility remains unclear. Fender was called up by new Wales coach Steve Tandy in the autumn, having previously been on Warren Gatland’s radar for a couple of years.
However, the Ospreys lock didn’t feature in November – missing out on a potential first cap against South Africa with a shoulder injury.
Fender will be in the mix for a place in the Six Nations squad though, having been one of the 50-odd players present at Wales’ connection camp at the Vale last week.
With his deal out in the summer, it’s not clear if the PNI technicality that hindered him last year would necessarily be in play again – given the Ospreys wouldn’t be signing off on his departure early as was the case last year.
Instead, whenever Fender signs a new deal – be it at Grenoble or elsewhere – then it could simply come down to whether he is capped or not at that point.
As things stand, being uncapped at the moment, he should in theory be free to sign a deal elsewhere and remain available for Wales coaches for the duration of that new deal.
But were he capped before any new deal was signed, then he would in theory be captured – unless, in a similar vein to Jarrod Evans and Rhys Carre, he was deemed eligible by the PRB on the basis that he did not ‘receive a reasonable offer to play for a side in Wales and left as a result, even with fewer than 25-caps’.
