bath rugbyBath are still hunting for a new outside-half for the new season after Stephen Donald’s move to The Rec collapsed.

The Sunday News in New Zealand are reporting that former All Black Donald will now move to The Chiefs after he failed to get a work permit for the move to the Aviva Premiership.

“He will fill the gap left by Stephen Brett and Luke McAlister, who are heading overseas, and will look to form a powerful combination with new recruit Ma’a Nonu next year,” says the newspaper

“Donald was expecting to play for Bath next season and a deal had been agreed with the English club. However, the move collapsed when he couldn’t get a work permit to play in the UK. This was because Donald doesn’t qualify by having any European grandparents and he hasn’t started a test for the All Blacks in the past 18 months.

“While Donald has played three tests for the All Blacks over this period – against Australia, Scotland and Wales on last year’s end-of-season tour – they were all from the bench. Work permit rules require a player to have started for the All Blacks over the 18-month period.

“The only way Donald could have gone ahead with the move was if he was selected for the All Blacks again and got to start against Fiji on Friday or in one of the Tri-Nations Tests.”