Toulon in ‘illegal’ move for Leigh Halfpenny

European champions Toulon were at the centre of an illegal approach row last Saturday over a cheeky attempt to sign Leigh Halfpenny.
Cardiff Blues took action amid claims that the biggest spenders in the game planned to fly their Lions full- back to the Riviera for weekend talks aimed at securing his capture as Jonny Wilkinson’s goalkicking successor next season on a three-year contract worth one million Euros a year.
Far from allowing their prize asset to head for the Cote d’Azur, Blues chairman Peter Thomas warned Toulon  that any such move constitutes an illegal approach. Halfpenny is under contract until the end of the season and cannot enter into talks without the Blues’ permission.
“This is very, very unsettling for the player, the club and the supporters,” Thomas told The Rugby Paper.  “Under the terms of Leigh’s contract, no club is free to talk to him until next February.
“Any contact before then is an illegal approach. We understand that and Toulon must also understand that.
“We have had no direct approach from them and no request for discussions.  We are in the process of speaking to the player’s agent to get some clarity on the matter.”
Toulon, anxious to pre-empt the stampede for Halfpenny, had planned to fly him down from Dublin where the Blues lost to Leinster on Friday night.
Midi Olympique, the influential French bi-weekly wall-to-wall rugby newspaper, announced on Toulon’s behalf that Halfpenny would “travel this weekend to begin talks over a contract”.
They had done exactly that with Ulster‘s Springbok scrum-half Ruan Pienaar and announced that he had signed a two-year deal from next year. Toulon’s collection of global superstars shows no sign of ending.
Pienaar will follow fellow Springbok Bryan Habana and All Black lock Ali Williams as the more recent additions to the world-wide stable as financed by owner Mourad Boudjellal. If he gets his way, and he invariably does, Halfpenny’s addition to the galaxy may be but a matter of time.
PETER JACKSON