UNCONFIRMED reports in France suggest that Greig Laidlaw will play in Japan next season. With the rest of the current programme cancelled because of the coronavirus, clubs in the Japanese Top League are turning their attention to strengthening their squads for the coming campaign, with the former Scotland captain understood to be a prime target.

The 34-year-old Borderer, whose contract at Clermont Auvergne ends in the summer, came close to agreeing terms with Perpignan before deciding earlier this month against a switch to the second tier French outfit.

However, according to the rugby paper, Midi Olympique, he has signed for a Japanese club and is set to return to a country where he made a big impression with the locals during last year’s World Cup. Dubbed ‘Mr Greig’, Laidlaw was a fans’ favourite throughout the competition and he can expect a warm reception if he returns to play in the domestic competition.

Should he complete the move, he will be following in the tracks of fellow Scotland internationals including Scott McLeod, who played for Kobelco Steelers, and more recently, Luke Hamilton, who had a brief spell with Red Hurricanes after leaving Edinburgh last summer.