Rugby Australia and the NRL both appear set to miss out on one of the brightest dual-code rising talents in the country with star schoolboy Heinz Lemoto instead poised to sign a deal in French rugby.
Just a fortnight after RA chairman Daniel Herbert took aim at France's Top 14 clubs and their poaching of young Australian talent, ESPN understands Lemoto is travelling to France to ink a deal with reigning European champions Toulouse.
Reports in French media over the weekend suggested the deal was done, though it's understood no formal paperwork has been tabled.
RA is thought to be aware of the advanced stages of Lemoto's thinking and is almost resigned to having missed out on keeping the youngster on home soil. If Lemoto does indeed sign on in France, it could be seen as somewhat of a win for RA however given he would remain in the 15-player game.
Lemoto is one of the most sought-after talents in the country, and speculation about his future has swelled since Queensland 16-year-old Visesio Kite was cleared to sign for La Rochelle.
Just under a fortnight ago at RA's AGM, Herbert also mentioned "other cases" that hadn't been reported in the media as he called on World Rugby to act amid the French rugby's growing influence Down Under. It is understood there could be more than 15 young Australian-raised players either already signed to, or being sized-up by, French clubs.
"It's something that we're talking to World Rugby about, because there's more than what's been reported as well that we're aware of, and our view is that France has the ability to produce its own players," Herbert said a fortnight ago.
"They don't need to come and talk to our player agents to try and poach ours at a very young age. So there's going to be some discussions at World Rugby level around what is actually allowed to happen in that market.
"Because, you know, [France's] population of 70 million without the major competition [rugby league] that we have and doesn't need to go to other markets to try and poach players.
"So it's a live discussion with World Rugby at the moment."
While Top 14 teams have long targeted the Pacific, their pursuit of Australian talent appears to be ramping up as the cashed-up clubs look to circumvent France's JIFF-qualification requirement.
And that should also spell alarm for the NRL, who could now increasingly find itself in a similar predicament to their 15-player rivals in Australia, just as it begins to ratify plans for an expanded 19-team competition.
Lemoto has been a junior rugby league star with Penrith, but shot onto the rugby scene in 2024 with a standout performance in the Australia under-18s' victory over New Zealand Schools last year, despite still being in Year 11.
Lemoto, currently in Year 12 at Sydney's Scots College, was a dominant force with ball in hand as Australia triumphed 38-31 in Hamilton.
If he does sign on in France, Lemoto would likely still complete his final year of schooling in Sydney, playing in the GPS First XV competition along the way, before heading off to Toulouse to enter the club's academy later in the year.
He would join fellow Australians Richie Arnold and Emmanuel Meafou at the club, the locking duo who have found success in the south of France in contrasting fashions.
Arnold was the less heralded twin brother of Wallabies lock Rory Arnold, before he was plucked from nowhere by Eddie Jones for the Wallabies' failed 2023 World Cup campaign.
Meafou, meanwhile, slipped through the Australian pathways having even entertained a stint with the NFL's International Pathway Program, before travelling to France and linking with Toulouse, where he has since gone on to represent Les Bleus after spending five years in Europe.
But Lemoto would instead come through the JIFF-qualification program, which is designed to encourage clubs in both the Top 14 and France's second division to invest in homegrown talent by stipulating that they must have spent five years playing age grade rugby before turning 23, or have spent three years in a club's professional academy before hitting the same age to be eligible for the national team.
Lemoto would therefore become eligible for France at that age, if he does commit his extended future to Toulouse.
He could however return to Australia and chase a Wallabies jersey by rejoining a Super Rugby franchise down the track, but it may be difficult to entice the youngster home if he was to settle into life at one of France's most famous clubs.
Toulouse are currently first on the Top 14 ladder, while they have a European Champions' Cup semifinal against fellow French heavyweights Bordeaux this weekend. The French giants are also the home of injured superstar and former World Rugby Player of the Year, Antoine Dupont.
While RA has done well to retain the lion's share of the under-18 talent that triumphed in Hamilton, including star prop Kingsley Uys and rising lock Will Ross, the growing global threats will likely see the governing body further pressure the game's global stewards to act on junior age talent.
NSW Waratahs, for whom Lemoto would likely play if he did decide to stay in Australia, are desperate for back-row talent with starting loose forwards Rob Leota and Langi Gleeson both heading for France later in the year.