The 24-year-old hooker, already a regular starter at Toulouse, is on the point of signing a contract extension of around four seasons with the Haute-Garonne club, before a proposed loan to Bayonne. The deal, promising though it is, has yet to be finalised.

Stade Toulousain are on the way to securing the future of their young French hooker, Guillaume Cramont, currently in the France squad for the autumn tour. Having featured in seven of the first eight championship games, four of them as a starter, the 24-year-old is being courted by many of Top 14’s big guns, but the Toulouse hierarchy, who have no intention of letting him go, want to offer him an extension of at least four years.

That new contract would nevertheless come with a new arrangement: a loan of one or two seasons to Aviron Bayonnais from next summer, allowing the Toulouse man to gain game time while remaining under contract at Toulouse.

On the Bayonne side, the decision of Lucas Peyresblanques (27), also under observation and tracked by the Basque Country club, will depend in part on Cramont’s future. At this stage, talks are advanced, but no document has yet been signed, which leaves the door open to adjustments before any announcement.

This extension-plus-loan could allow Cramont to continue his development in a competitive environment, while giving Bayonne the input of a promising player and Toulouse the security of a talented young man.