Toulon has today confirmed the signing of former England prop Kyle Sinckler from Bristol ahead of the 2024/25 season on a three-year contract.
The 68-cap international will join former international teammate Lewis Ludlum at the French side, effectively ruling both out of England selection thanks to the RFU ruling surrounding player ineligibility outside of England.
The video released by Toulon announcing his arrival raised a few eyebrows in the rugby community, with more than one person pointing out that his highlight reel included no footage of Sincker at Bristol.
The England prop, Kyle Sinckler, signs with RCT until 2027 🔥🔴⚫
Welcome to Toulon @KyleSinckler 💪 pic.twitter.com/qjbdSZItpA
— RCT – RC Toulon (@RCT_English) June 24, 2024
Although Sinckler didn’t have the greatest time performance-wise at Bristol, it would be thought that his time would have been worthy of a highlight or two in four years of service.
Speaking recently on ‘The Good, the Bad & the Rugby’ podcast, Sinckler had attributed his bad form down to the smokeless tobacco product, ‘snus’, stating that it was used to suppress his appetite and that it affected his performance negatively.
Speaking about the habit, and the challenges that he faced at Bristol, Sickler explained: “There was loads of other things that were happening behind the scenes, loads of habits that I was doing that were not conducive to being a world-class athlete, that kind of all came out after.”
“In terms of like where I want to be and the person, the man I want to become, I can’t be saying one thing on the socials and putting out a message like that. And then behind closed doors, I’m acting like a victim, the world’s against me and I’m doing snus,
“The whole thing is just… it doesn’t work like that, you know? So it’s like at the end of the day, I’ve reaped what I sowed, you know?”
Now 31, the former Harlequins player will be looking to enjoy his rugby without the added pressure of international selection as he settles down into life in the south of France.
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