England winger Jonny May confirms his Gloucester Rugby future

Winger Jonny May has confirmed he is set to leave Gloucester Rugby at the end of the season when his contract at Kingsholm expires.

May, 34, is in his second spell with the Cherry and Whites having spent three years at Leicester Tigers between 2017 and 2020, but having hung up his boots from international duty following England’s third-place finish at the Rugby World Cup in 2023, he now has plans to head overseas next season after contract negotiations at Gloucester have broken down.

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Speaking on the podcast, The Good, The Bad and The Rugby, May said: “My update for next season is that I am unlikely to be at Gloucester. That is just one of those things. But I am fully committed to giving everything I have got for these remaining games and it is amazing to be in this European [Challenge Cup] competition and hopefully, I get to play in the semi-final [against Benetton] in a week’s time.

Despite having been linked with a potential move to Saracens next season, discussing his plans for next season, May said: “I’d imagine it will be overseas just because I wouldn't really want to go to another Premiership club I don’t think. I sound ancient now. I think I’ve done 15 seasons in the Premiership and my intention after the World Cup was to stay at Gloucester and do one more season at Gloucester and I really wanted to do that, and that hasn’t worked out and that’s nobody’s fault.

“Gloucester’s been a great club for me, amazing club, it’s my home and I really did want to stay. It hasn’t quite worked out but that doesn’t change I feel towards the end of the season. With my little baby, maybe I will play abroad for a season or two. There is nothing concrete for me, hopefully something comes up but I’m fully focused on the Gloucester stuff until the end of the season.”

A move to either the lucrative Japanese League One of French Top 14 look like May’s most likely destination, while Gloucester have Christian Wade arriving from Racing 92. Although with Welsh star Louis Rees-Zammit leaving the club in January to pursue a career in the NFL the Cherry and Whites still look light of a winger ahead of next season, despite the emergence of Josh Hathaway.

May, who has already taken a step into podcasting, spoke about how he is exploring post-playing opportunities with a move in the fire service with the RAF a possibility. He said: “I am still hoping to play for the next couple of years or year, I am not quite ready to stop playing yet, but the RAF could help me come in during the off-season.

“It would help me get a bit of a foot up while I am still playing.”

On the international scene, May will go down as a great. He made his debut for England in 2013 and went on to earn 77 caps, scoring 36 tries making him the second all-time highest try scorer for his country in the men's game.