French rugby keeps shopping in Australian rugby league. According to several Australian outlets, North Queensland Cowboys winger Murray Taulagi has accepted an offer from a Top 14 club, whose name remains confidential, on a deal that could run for three seasons. Nothing is official yet, from either the clubs or the player, and he would only leave at the end of the NRL season. The Sydney Roosters had hoped to keep him in the competition.

At 27, Taulagi is no unknown. A professional with the Cowboys since 2019, he has scored 72 tries in just over 120 NRL games, including 12 tries in 14 games in 2025 and 11 in 16 this season. The winger has also tasted State of Origin, with 6 appearances for the Queensland Maroons between 2021 and 2023, and has 2 caps for the Kangaroos, with 2 tries at the 2022 World Cup, as well as 5 caps for Samoa.

His departure comes as no surprise in Australia: talks with North Queensland over a new contract broke down during the season, putting him on the market. His destination confirms a broader trend. After Joseph Suaalii and Angus Crichton (Waratahs), Mark Nawaqanitawase (Japan) and Zac Lomax (Western Force), this time it is the Top 14 luring a league international still in his prime.

The club’s identity has not leaked. Australia’s Daily Telegraph, which broke the story, only mentions a destination in the south of France. The paper does, however, report a detail that is bound to raise eyebrows: a winger by trade, Taulagi is expected to play in the centres there, at 12 or 13, even though he has never played union at professional level. France is not new territory for the family, though: his brother Jamie-Jerry Taulagi has spent the last two seasons at Limoux, in the Super XIII.