Ed Slater broke the ice on his first day with his Gloucester teammates by introducing himself as “Jonny May’s cast-off”. “It was a joke,” qualifies the former Leicester Tigers lock. “Well, a semi-joke.”

That summary, typical of the 29-year-old’s dry wit, describes a frenetic fortnight. The swap deal, seeing May head to Welford Road and Slater come to Kingsholm - both players leaving with a year still on their previous contracts - epitomises how recruitment in professional rugby is becoming slightly faster and looser.

The entire process - from a speculative phone call, to Slater sourcing solo accommodation in Cheltenham on Airbnb and joining training - lasted two weeks. A permanent place for his partner and two daughters, aged two and three, will be found after returning from Gloucester’s pre-season trip to Portugal. Time to house-hunt was a luxury too far for a rather unusual piece of business.