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Rhys Webb unlikely to play again for Toulon, says owner

Scrum-half Rhys Webb won't move to Ospreys until next season but Toulon majority owner Bernard Lemaitre has said it is unlikely he will play again for Toulon again this season. Photo by Kevin Barnes - CameraSport via Getty Images

Toulon scrum-half Rhys Webb has possibly made his last appearance for the club, owner Bernard Lemaitre said on Sunday

Ospreys announced last week that Webb would be rejoining them next season after Toulon agreed to release him a year early from his contract.

However, majority owner Bernard Lemaitre told France's Sud Radio on Sunday that Webb's "dishonest attitude" over the move meant that he may not play for Toulon again before he leaves.

"We made beach-sized amounts of time for him to go back and see them [his family]. Rhys asked us to free him from the final year of his contract and we accepted," Lemaitre said.

"All of a sudden we learn he has already signed for the Ospreys and his agent had already negotiated with the Welsh union that he can be selected. It's a dishonest attitude.

"It takes us to a situation where I think Rhys Webb will not play in the Toulon shirt again. The adventure will be cut short."

Webb was not included in the team that beat Castres on Sunday and head coach Patrice Collazo refused to answer questions about the Wales scrum-half.

In a statement announcing his departure on the Toulon website Webb had said that he was "determined to give my best for the club until the end of the season and I hope that we will obtain the victories that the club deserves."

Webb has not played for Wales since he moved to Toulon. A WRU rule change in 2017 meant that any player with less than 60 caps playing outside Wales was ineligible for selection for the national side.

Last Friday the WRU announced in a statement that the the Professional Rugby Board had granted Webb special dispensation to play in this year's Six Nations.