Rhys Webb is poised to leave Toulon with immediate effect after a verbal mutual agreement was struck between the two parties.

The premature end to Webb's time in the south of France has not yet be formalised but the signs are that he has played his final game for the Rouge et Noir.

When the exit is pushed through, it will leave the 33-cap scrum-half unattached ahead of the upcoming Six Nations campaign.

Webb is due to return to the Ospreys next season, but this latest development could pave the way for that move to take place earlier than planned.

However, it is currently unclear if that move is on the horizon.

Earlier this month, Toulon reacted angrily to the Welsh Rugby Union granting Webb special dispensation to become eligible for selection for the 2020 Six Nations.

Despite not having the 60 caps required, the WRU allowed head coach Wayne Pivac to select Webb in light of the fact that he has signed a deal to return to the Ospreys next season.

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That deal was made possible by Toulon agreeing to release the 31-year-old from his contract, which was due to run until 2021, at the end of the season.

Webb's new Wales eligibility, and subsequent selection, has left Toulon short of scrum-halves at a time when they were hoping he'd be the ideal cover, which is the source of their annoyance.

It prompted an angry reaction from the club's new owner Bernard Lemaître who, earlier this month, told Sud Rugby Radio: "The one at fault is Rhys Webb.

"He's the one who's lent himself to all these manoeuvres. This brings us to a situation where Rhys Webb will no longer play in the Toulon jersey by the end of the season.

"His attitude was dishonest towards the RCT [Rugby Club of Toulon]."

In the wake of those comments, Webb's agent, Derwyn Jones, insisted that the his Wales eligibility was only explored after the move to the Ospreys was secured.

"As soon as Rhys agreed terms with Ospreys and we had the written release from Toulon, we appealed the decision to try and get him available for this year's Six Nations purely because he was coming back in the summer," Jones told BBC Wales.

"We asked the question to the PRB which is made up of the regions and the Welsh Rugby Union.

"They agreed so Rhys is available for the Six Nations which is great news and common sense.

"The first thing was that we had to get him back to Wales. He signed a contract with the Ospreys subject to getting release from Toulon.

"Toulon agreed and signed the release and we wrote to the PRB after that. So the first piece in the jigsaw was to get the Ospreys contract and Toulon release. After that we appealed the decision and they agreed."

Webb arrived in Wales camp on Monday and head coach Wayne Pivac was asked about his frame of mind after a turbulent few weeks.

"He looked very sharp [on Tuesday] – he trained very well," said Pivac.

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“He’s a very experienced player, a British Lion. The question is ‘where is he at in terms of his fitness levels?'

“It’s just that level of communication that he brings and that experience, challenging other senior players during the training session

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“I think that’s a fantastic thing because it keeps everyone on their toes. At nine you really want a guy who is barking the instructions.

“Nines and 10s have a role to play in terms of delivering the patterns of play that we want to use and I think that experience was seen [on Tuesday] in training.”