Today's rugby news as star 'loving life' after quitting Wales and Maro Itoje linked with shock move amid £1m demands

Here are your rugby headlines on Monday, November 20.

Hawkins 'loving it' after quitting Wales

Joe Hawkins has admitted he's loving his new life at Exeter Chiefs after quitting Welsh rugby and putting his international future on hold to play in England.

The 21-year-old centre has five caps for Wales but left the Ospreys for the English Premiership side this summer, making himself ineligible for Wales due to the Professional Rugby Board's 25-cap law.

And while he struggled on his first start at Sandy Park last weekend, he showed exactly what he can do in the Chiefs' last-gasp win over Gloucester on Sunday night, putting in a man of the match performance just days after being publicly backed by his coach. Hawkins was tipped to make rapid progress by Rob Baxter earlier in the week and repaid his faith with an outstanding showing as Exeter emerged 25-24 winners in a dramatic finish.

Following the full-time whistle, Hawkins was handed his award and told TNT Sports that he had settled in well down south, with a sizeable Welsh contingent making him feel at home.

Asked if he was enjoying his time at his new club, he replied: "Yeah, I'm loving it down here so far. I think it's credit to the boys [who made it] so easy for me to settle in. All the Welsh boys down here, it's like a home away from home really. So I'm loving it so far and looking forward to the future.

Hawkins added: "It's pretty well-documented that we're a pretty young side, but I don't think we let that phase us, we're not thinking about that when we're playing. We're just focused on getting better in every training session and taking it weekend by weekend and growing as a team. I think we definitely took big strides forward tonight.

Itoje linked with shock move

England star Maro Itoje has been linked with a shock move to the Top 14 as he is faced with taking a major pay cut to stay at Saracens or moving overseas.

New salary cap regulations, set to be introduced from next season, mean that Premiership clubs will only be allowed to have one 'marquee player' on their books. At Saracens, captain Owen Farrell is likely to fill that role, with Itoje's reported salary of £800,000 per year set to become unaffordable for the club.

As a result, he has reportedly been offered a whopping 50 per cent pay cut, with with Sarries offering him an extension in the region of around £400,000 per year to keep him at the club. With other Premiership clubs also already filling their quota of marquee players, Itoje looks set to head overseas in a move that would end his Test career with England and could throw his involvement in a third Lions tour into doubt.

Lyon has now emerged as a shock destination for the 29-year-old, with France lock Romain Taofifenua leaving the club at the end of the season ahead of a rumoured move to Racing 92. However, Itoje's demands for a staggering £1 million per season pay packet could prove a stumbling block, with the club believed to have only budgeted £570,000 for Taofifenua's replacement, the Rugby Paper reports.

According to the same publication, Toulon have also weighed up a move for the 6ft 5in star. Either move would put a stop to his England career by making him ineligible for Steve Borthwick's squad.

Welsh derby coach could face ban

Dragons coach Dan Baugh could be slapped with a ban after he put his hand on referee Ben Whitehouse's arm during this weekend's derby match with Ospreys.

Former Canada international Baugh had been running water on to the pitch throughout the first half of the Dragons' 20-5 win over the Ospreys at Rodney Parade, but wouldn't return to the pitch in the second 40 as he landed himself in hot water just before half-time.

After Ospreys wing Mat Protheroe was red-carded for a high tackle on Will Reed, Baugh let his feelings known towards Whitehouse as the official decided what punishment to hand out. The referee confronted him and told him: "If you ever shout at me like that again, you will be in the stand."

Baugh replied that he was talking to his own players but put his hand on Whitehouse's arm as the official turned away, prompting a furious reaction from the Welshman. "Don't touch me," said a shocked Whitehouse, as he told his colleagues: "This man stays off the field from now".

Some of those in attendance found the funny side, but Baugh could still face further action. Last year, the head coach of Top 14 side Pau was handed a 10-week ban for grabbing a referee's arm.

Monye supported

Ugo Monye has received an outpouring of support from the rugby community after he revealed he had suffered racist abuse following Exeter's win over Gloucester.

The former England wing turned pundit was on co-commentary duties for TNT Sports at Sandy Park but was left distraught as he heard a supporter repeatedly use a racial slur, with the behaviour going unchallenged by those around him. ""Leaving Sandy Park and one supporter running through crowd starts shouting 'N****, N****'," Monye wrote on X. "Disgraceful. Not a single person said a word, challenged or even reported it.

"He walks off after a mild scuffle and fans are now telling me 'We’re with you'," he added. "B****** you’re with me. You weren’t with me when you saw and heard the most blatant racism I’ve seen from a supporter at a live game. So fed up"

He has been met with hundreds of supportive messages from players, colleagues and fans, with Chiefs forward Dan Frost writing: "Coming home to read this after a cracking game of rugby makes me angry!!! Absolutely disgraceful. I hope as a club we can find this individual. Sorry you had to experience that @ugomonye!"

Former England international and presenter Martin Bayfield added: "Just heard of the racist abuse hurled at Ugo at Sandy Park. This hits on a personal level because Ugo is a mate and colleague, but this is unacceptable on any level, to any person at any time and in any environment. Expose the culprit and make them answerable for this hate."

Meanwhile, Premiership Rugby also issued a statement on the matter, offering their "full support" to Monye and urging anyone with information about the incident to make themselves known.

"Premiership Rugby is aware of the accusations of racist abuse suffered by Ugo Monye at Sandy Park following the Exeter Chiefs match against Gloucester," the statement read. "Premiership Rugby offers our full support to Ugo Monye and we stand united with our clubs and players in the fight against racism.

"Racism has absolutely no place in our game or society. Exeter Chiefs have launched a full investigation and we urge anyone with any information to come forward."