Saracens are in talks to sign former All Black Hoskins Sotutu, who could provide a solution to England’s problem position at No 8.
Sotutu is English-qualified through his mother and has not represented New Zealand since coming off the bench in the 25-25 draw against England at Twickenham in November 2022.
By the end of this international campaign, Sotutu will be eligible to play for either England or Fiji, whom his father Waisake Sotutu played for at international level, having completed a three-year stand-down period.
With Sotutu’s CV doing the rounds of Premiership Rugby clubs, it appears that the 27-year-old is destined to head to his maternal homeland.
Telegraph Sport understands Saracens are the current front-runners, although the Newcastle Red Bulls are making a big push to capture the 1.93m, 112kg loose forward and Gloucester are also interested.
Last year, Sotutu was voted Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year after a standout campaign in which he scored 12 tries, equalling a record for a forward – and yet he has fallen out of favour with the All Blacks.
Nevertheless, his potential departure is viewed as a blow by former New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick.
“He would be a big loss for New Zealand rugby,” Fitzpatrick said. “He has been outstanding for the Blues, but has never seemed to have been given that opportunity with the All Blacks, who have some very good loose forwards.”
It is understood that Sotutu has plenty of admirers within the England coaching staff, even before Tom Willis’ shock decision to leave Saracens for Bordeaux next summer, effectively ending his international career. Willis’ departure leaves both Saracens and England with a void at No 8, at least in the Lawrence Dallaglio or Dean Richards mould that Willis comes closest to matching. Ben Earl was man of the match in that shirt against Australia, while Chandler Cunningham-South enjoyed a fine outing there against Fiji, but neither would be considered classical No 8s, hence the attraction of the gain-line-breaking Sotutu, who has been a consistent standout performer in Super Rugby Pacific.
Unlike its Scottish or Irish counterparts, England’s Rugby Football Union would have no hand in directly recruiting Sotutu as a “project player” and Telegraph Sport understands that there is zero prospect of him being offered an enhanced elite player squad (EPS) contract, worth up to £160,000 ($373,000), as a potential further carrot. “That would be anathema to Steve [Borthwick, the England head coach],” a source said. “The whole point of the enhanced EPS is that they have to be earned by playing at the highest possible level in England.”
Yet should Sotutu sign for Saracens, then there would be nothing to preclude Borthwick from selecting him for the Nations Championship that starts next summer. England have yet to select a player who has previously represented another nation at senior level in the modern era.
World Rugby changed the rules around international eligibility in 2022 that allow players to switch allegiances to represent a country of their, their parents’ or their grandparents’ birth. The change was intended to benefit Pacific Island nations, although props Henry Thomas and Alec Hepburn have used the law to swap England for Wales and Scotland respectively.
Sotutu has been on England’s radar for some time. Six years ago, Eddie Jones, then England head coach, inquired about Sotutu’s international aspirations, but at that time he was committed to chasing his All Blacks dream. However, he has not been selected by New Zealand since Scott Robertson became head coach, even after his standout season in 2024, which seemingly prompted a change of heart.
“The MVP award was a big surprise for me – it’s a big award in any competition,” Sotutu told the New Zealand Herald in April. “Around my group and the Blues, they all congratulated me and made me feel important, but you can’t please everybody. That’s just the way it is.
“When I didn’t make the All Blacks last year, the immediate reaction was to explore and think about it. I can’t say I had a chat [to Borthwick], but my agent went to work and explored options.”
Those options include Saracens, who suddenly have a big hole at No 8 after Willis’ decision to join Bordeaux next season. It is understood that Saracens had been willing to push the boat out to retain Willis, but the 26-year-old was committed to starting afresh in France. Now they can reinvest that money in another “big hitter”. Sotutu is the most like-for-like replacement available, but England lock George Martin, who is understood to be disillusioned at Leicester Tigers, is also under consideration.