Wallabies lock Rory Arnold says he’s happy in Australia for now, after reports emerged that the off-contract lock is being courted by cashed up French clubs.
Reports on Friday suggested Arnold had been offered a lucrative contract by French glamour club Toulon, with the 26-year-old set to come off contract in 2017, but he played down that speculation on Saturday night.
Arnold said he hadn’t read any of the reports and deflected the speculation after Australia’s loss to Ireland, as contract discussions with the Brumbies and ARU are set to get underway.
“I'm enjoying my time in Australia at the moment and with the Brumbies. We'll see what happens there.”- Rory Arnold
“I'm not going to say anything about it, but I'm enjoying my time in Australia at the moment.
“This is my second season of Super Rugby and first season of Test match Rugby. I'm enjoying it and looking forward to many more games.”
Arnold was catapulted into the Test team in 2016 and has become one of the mainstays of the side as the year has gone on and said that would play a role in a decision on his future.
“I'm still pretty young and pretty fresh to the game,” he said.
“I don't think I'm at that point where I want to head off (overseas) too early. We'll see what happens.”
Arnold came off early in Australia’s loss to Ireland in Dublin, replaced at half-time by Kane Douglas for tactical reasons and said a lopsided penalty count didn’t help the Wallabies, who will be looking to address their discipline ahead of their Test against England.
“It's Test match footy. You can't just give away that many penalties and think at the end of the day you're going to come away at the end of the game on top,” he said.
“We've got to work on that for next week.”
A controversial decision that led to a Garry Ringrose try involved a potential obstruction non-call in which Arnold appeared to be blocked from tackling Garry Ringrose but Arnold wasn’t looking to point the finger at the referee.
“That's done now. I probably could've got there and probably could've worked a bit harder. It's done now,” he said.
Arnold made his Test debut in June against England and will have another chance to test himself against Eddie Jones’s men on Saturday.
The Wallabies fly to London on Sunday, ahead of Saturday’s final Spring Tour Test in Twickenham.
