By Colin Spiro, 14 April 2011
|
Awash with colour and noise
at Barcelona's Estadi Olympic
Photo:
Eoin Mundow/Cleva Media |
Think of Barcelona and what springs to
mind? The city's famous unfinished Gaudi cathedral, the
buzzing central street of La Rambla, or perhaps an image of
Lionel Messi netting his latest dazzling effort for Catalan
footballing giants?
Not for me, not any more.
For me Barcelona will now be forever
linked with rugby, and that's not a sentence I ever expected
to be writing.
When Perpignan announced that
their Heineken Cup quarter-final against Toulon would be
switched to Barcelona it seemed too good an opportunity not
to pop across the border from my French Pyrenean base and
sample what the Catalan heartland had to offer.
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By Colin Spiro, 25
March 2011
|
Getting to grips with the job in hand:
Toulouse
and Samoa prop in action against Perpignan
Photo: Eoin Mundow/Cleva Media |
If there's one thing
the French love more than off-the-cuff back moves then
it's a pile-driving scrum pummelling the opposition's
pack into the dirt.
They may admire
their free-running backs - just look at the esteem in
which Serge Blanco is still held - but they revere their
props.
Just look at last
season's Heineken Cup final - the all French affair
between Stade Toulousain and Biarritz. Space was at an
absolute premium, meaning such free-spirited runners as
Takudzwa Ngwenya, Iain Balshaw and Maxime Médard were
largely cosseted in a final where the pack proved king.
Both sides have fiercely powerful front fives, and last
season's mighty clash is set to be repeated in two weeks
time when they come face-to-face again in this season's
Heineken Cup - although this time at the quarter-final
stage and across the Basque border in San Sebastian.
Read More... |
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By Colin Spiro, 20 February 2011
|
Tough call:
Tom May
Photo: Eoin Mundow
/Cleva Media |
(Toulon and England
centre Tom May talks exclusively to
frenchrugbyclub.com about why he's leaving at the
end of the season, what he'll miss about France, and Sonny
Bill Williams' extraordinary rugby skills...)
As
the ongoing
influx of internationals to Toulon
continues to gather pace, former England centre
Tom May is bucking that trend by leaving the ambitious
French club to return to England.
But
May’s decision
to sign with Northampton Saints
is not that of a disenfranchised Brit abroad, but rather a
more calculated one resulting from Toulon’s never-ending
squad recruitment.
Welsh
centre Gavin Henson recently arrived from Saracens,
Australian Matt Giteau confirmed last week he would be
joining in the summer and rumours of signings continue
unabated.
“It’s
going to be very difficult to play a lot of rugby here in
the future,” admitted May. “There’s a lot of guys coming
here, and there’s going to be a lot of big names playing in
the same positions. From my perspective I’m coming towards
the end of my career and I want to play as much as I can in
the years that remain. I know it’s also going to be
difficult to play at Northampton but I’ve got more of a
chance there I suppose, and going to one of the top clubs in
the UK is a fantastic opportunity,” he explained.
Read More... |
29 March 2010
|
Where did it all go wrong?
Stade's James Haskell
Photo: Michael Paler |
The 2009/10
season has proven a tumultuous one for French giants Stade
Francais, with the flamboyant Paris outfit stumbling from
one crisis to another, both on and off the field.
Rarely have they been out
of the French (or international) headlines, with last week’s
announcement that Leinster’s Michael Cheika will become
their third head coach in less than 12 months just the
latest in a seemingly never-ending stream of eye-catching
stories to emerge from the club.
Their latest defeat -
a 44-23 hammering by Perpignan
- means they are currently languishing in ninth position in
Top 14 with just three matches to go and are set to miss out
on the end-of-season play-offs for the first time since
2000/01. And this despite the number of clubs involved in
those play-offs being expanded from four to six this season.
Read More... |
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By Colin Spiro, 19 March 2010
|
'The epitome of French
coolness and class'
Photo: Eden Park |
On
the eve of France's Grand Slam showdown with England FRC
talks to former France fly-half (and Grand Slam winner)
Franck Mesnel.
Franck
Mesnel was once dubbed “the epitome of French coolness and
class”, and it’s certainly hard to refute that tribute,
although you won’t find him draped around an espresso in a
Paris café puffing away happily on a Gitanes. The coffee,
the café and Paris, yes, but smoking is not on the Mesnel
agenda.
He looks
as fit and fresh now, aged 48, as he did in his prime – and
what a prime! Mesnel trained as an architect but found
himself at the centre, or rather fly-half, of the now famed
back quintet at Paris side Racing Club de France (now known
as Racing-Metro 92) that gave birth to the sobriquet “Le
Showbizz” in the mid 1980s. Not satisfied with playing a
flair minded counter-attack game, the capital’s then number
one club also took to indulging in a number of “jokes” while
simultaneously engaged in all the seriousness that was and
remains French club rugby.
Read More...
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23 January 2010, by Colin Spiro
|
"We've been a bit up
and down"- Balshaw
Photo: Michael Paler |
For a man who has won rugby’s
top honour – the World Cup – Iain Balshaw remains
refreshingly modest and level-headed. Perhaps it’s the sea
air that drifts in from the Atlantic coast, or maybe it’s
his new-found happiness at one of France’s most successful
clubs, but on the field Balshaw remains an exacting
opponent, ever-ready to unfurl his raking legs and go for
the try line.
It seems that his
summer move from Gloucester to Biarritz has allowed him to
finally find his spiritual home – in a rugby sense at least
– with the likes of Damien Traille, Dimitri Yachvili,
Takudzwa Ngwenya and Karmichael Hunt all sharing his own
taste for free-running and attack-minded adventure.
Heineken Cup Pools & Fixtures
Read More... |
23 January 2010, by Colin Spiro
|
Looking for a win:
Shaun Perry
Photo: Michael Paler |
As one of only two teams
yet to register a single point in this year’s Heineken Cup you might think
that Brive had little to play for in
Saturday’s final pool game, but that could
not be further from the truth. Indeed, the fact Brive remain point-less is
all the motivation the one-time European champions require.
Their home match against
third-placed Scarlets in Pool 6 presents the Limousin club with the ideal
opportunity to sign off with a win and send them into the remainder of the
French domestic season in good spirits. It would also help continue to wash
away the pain of a traumatic first half to the season that saw them dispense
with veteran head coach Laurent Seigne as they dropped ever nearer the Top
14 relegation zone.
Heineken Cup Pools & Fixtures
The mere fact they were
remotely close to the drop zone was an understandable source of deep inner
unrest, and Seigne paid the inevitable price as lack of confidence fatally
eroded the team’s well being.
Read More... |
By Colin Spiro, 31
December
2009
|
Racing to the top:
Jonathan Wisniewski
Photo: Michael Paler |
The end
of 2009 takes with it a hatful of rugby memories, but if
ever one match encapsulated the fortunes of two teams then
it was the
23-19 away win for in-form
Racing-Métro 92 at Top 14 strugglers Bayonne.
For
Pierre Berbizier's Parisians the four-point win was their
ninth in succession in the league, taking them within two of
Stade Toulousain's all-time record as they continued their
inexorable rise up the table.
Top 14 Table
/
Top 14 try-scorers
/
Top 14 Results
/
Top 14
Fixtures
Their
achievement is all the more remarkable for the twin facts
that this is their maiden season in Top 14 (after running
away with the ProD2 title in 2008/9) and that they lost five
of their first seven games.
That
dodgy start left Racing 13th after seven rounds but it was a
somewhat misleading picture as five of those seven games
were away from home in a lopsided start to the fixture list,
and their only defeat in the capital was a narrow 18-14 loss
to champions Perpignan.
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By Markus Findlay, 10 December
2009
|
It started with a kick...
England's Jonny Wilkinson
Photo: Michael Paler |
[In the
summer of 2009 a young UK-based student called Markus
Findlay came to France to investigate (as the above
headline suggests) the cultural role of rugby within the
French playing heartland of the south west. His trip was
part-funded by a scholarship called the
Charles de Gaulle
Bursary which was awarded by The British
Council. What follows is the part II of the end product he was required
to submit, and it's even got a section in French for those
keen to test their linguistic skills]
On that ever
so special November day in 2003, when a certain Jonny
Wilkinson kicked the drop-goal that would bring the Rugby
World Cup to the Northern Hemisphere for the first time in
history, my own passion for the sport was sparked - just as
with many of my generation. It captured the heart of the
nation and made a huge impact on the sporting community. The
golden Web Ellis Cup even made a celebratory visit to my
home, the rural market town of Nantwich in Cheshire, the
newspaper cutting of which still mounts my bedroom wall, now
faded and bleached by sunlight. It is fair to say that I
would probably not be writing this article had that kick not
bisected the posts in the dying minutes of the game.
Read More...
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By Markus Findlay, 04 December
2009
|
Tarbes fans soak up
the atmosphere
Photo: Colin Spiro |
[In the summer of 2009 a young UK-based student
called Markus Findlay came to France to
investigate (as the above headline suggests) the
cultural role of rugby within the French playing
heartland of the south west. His trip was
part-funded by a scholarship called the
Charles de
Gaulle Bursary which was awarded by
The British Council. What follows is the end
product he was required to submit, and I was so
impressed that I decided to publish it on the
website in two parts, starting with the first
installment today - Ed]
Rugby’s
personal attraction extends beyond the varied nature of the
game, one where all aspects of skill are incorporated. The
unique emphasis on inclusiveness and interdependence are the
reasons why I am so passionate about rugby. I believe there
is a universal appreciation for great spectacles of
athleticism, similar to the times of antiquity where
athletes were idolised for their physical qualities. This
enthusiasm for rugby (and sport in general) is widespread in
the southwest of France, and not dissimilar to the complete
awe for the ancient athletes of the past.
Read More... |
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By Joe El Abd, 21 October 2009
|
Sheer physicality:
Joe El-Abd
©
RCN Toulon |
Toulon flanker, FRC columnist - and former YTS at Brighton &
Hove Albion - Joe El Abd
this week reflects on the differences and similarities
between the professional sporting worlds of rugby union and
football.
I have just finished
reading a book called 'Woody and Nord – A football
friendship'. It’s about Gareth Southgate and Andy
Woodman and their lives in the world of football, and well
worth a read if anyone’s interested. While reading the book
myself I got thinking about the differences between the two
sports, something that I find particularly interesting given
that I have two brothers who both play football - Adam for
Brighton & Hove Albion, Sami for Hayes & Yeading - and it’s
often a subject that comes up in conversation.
I am sure you have all
heard of the description often used to highlight the
differences between the two sports of ‘Football is a game
for gentlemen played by thugs, while rugby is a game for
thugs played by gentlemen’. It’s a phrase I love to use to
wind up my brothers with. While it's true to say that
footballers haven’t done much to help themselves off the
pitch in the past, to label them all as thugs is also
probably a bit unfair (especially when regarding the recent
headlines in the rugby media).
Read More... |
13
October
2009, by Colin Spiro
|
"I’ve got no doubts that I made the right
decision": Biarritz winger Iain Balshaw
Photo: Michael Paler |
The Heineken Cup is
without doubt Europe’s premier club competition, and for the ever-increasing
numbers of ex-pat Brits in France it offers a welcome opportunity to parade
their skills in a series of high-profile games.
For the likes of James
Haskell, Tom Palmer (both Stade Francais), Jamie Noon and Steve Thompson
(both Brive) it provides a superb window to showcase their talents to a
Europe-wide audience – which will no doubt include England’s selectors – but
for Biarritz’s Iain Balshaw all he can do is look on with envy, for the time
being anyway.
The England World Cup
winner is still only 30 and harbours genuine hopes of adding to his 35
international caps, but torn transverse abdominal muscles (picked up in the
recent Basque derby against Bayonne) have ruled him out of both opening
rounds. Even more agonizing for the multi-skilled runner is the fact
Biarritz’s second game is at home to Gloucester on Saturday, the team he
left in the summer as part of the ongoing British exodus to France.
Read More... |
12
October
2009, by Colin Spiro
|
Disciplinarian:
Byron Kelleher
Photo: Michael Paler |
Stade Toulousain’s three
Heineken Cup triumphs marks them out as Europe’s most successful club team,
so when star player Byron Kelleher admits they’ve altered their
approach this season it’s wise for others to sit up and listen.
The French giants remain
true to their attacking ethos – as witnessed by
Sunday’s five-try demolition of Sale Sharks
– but they’ve had a long hard think about where they came unstuck in the
previous two campaigns as they lost to Munster (in the 2007/8 final) and
Cardiff Blues (in the 2008/9 quarter-final).
Heineken Cup Pools & Fixtures
The latter loss was a
particularly bitter pill to swallow, and prompted head coach Guy Noves to
sit down with his star-studded squad and ask where it had all gone wrong.
Read More... |
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By Joe El Abd, 08 September 2009
|
No ordinary Joe:
Toulon's Joe El Abd |
Toulon flanker, and former Bristol captain, Joe El Abd
has joined FRC as a regular columnist - giving us the inside
line on life down on the Cote d'Azur, what it's like to move
from the Guinness Premiership to Top 14 and generally
telling us how it is for a professional rugby player in the
modern era. This week he talks about money - and why it's
not just the pull of the Euro that's attracting Britain's
players across the Channel.
Is money the only
reason why so many British players have moved to play rugby
in France’s Top 14 this season? Certainly if you read or
listen to most of the British media that is impression you
would get, but as one of those who has moved – from Bristol
to Toulon – I can give you a more complete perspective on
the reasons for crossing the Channel. While it is clearly a
fact of life that money plays a part in most work related
decisions, for most players money is only one of many
factors that makes a move out to France hard to resist. Let
me explain.
Read More... |
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By Colin Spiro, 05 September 2009
|
Awestruck:
Ollie Phillips
Photo: Michael Paler |
England sevens captain and Stade Francais winger Ollie
Phillips talks to FRC about moving to
Paris, the awesome atmospheres within French rugby grounds
and why confidence still remains high despite a sticky start
to the new season.
He’s played in the
biggest international sevens tournaments in the world –
indeed, he is the current IRB Sevens Player of the Year –
but nothing prepared Ollie Phillips for the unique
atmosphere in French grounds following his summer move from
Newcastle Falcons to Paris giants Stade Francais.
A hamstring strain
prevented the 26-year-old from playing until Wednesday –
when he made a try-scoring debut
against Montauban – but he was still awestruck
after travelling to San Sebastien for Stade’s groundbreaking
match against Bayonne two weeks ago.
Read More... |
27 August
2009
|
'No players objected':
Pau's Paul Dearlove |
In the latest of his exclusive
columns for FRC, Pau captain Paul Dearlove
tackles the 'Bloodgate' scandal currently dominating the
British (and global) game - including his own experience
with the club-sanctioned use of blood capsules - and he asks
where is the line truly drawn between acceptable and
unacceptable levels of 'cheating'...
“If you’re not cheating – you’re
not trying!”
I have heard this from many
coaches and players and I understand the mentality.
Rugby is a game with many areas requiring
interpretation and this opens the door to all types
of games within the game.
But what is cheating? Slowing the
ball down for two or three seconds is against the
laws, but is it cheating? Holding or obstructing an
opposition supporting runner for even the shortest
moment can save a try - this is also unlawful but
teams train strategies with dummy runners for
exactly this purpose. I could go on but anyone who
has played or watched a game of rugby could pinpoint
innumerable examples of players ‘cheating’.
Read More...
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By Colin Spiro,
26
August 2009
|
Shaun Perry:
A new beginning
© Diarmid Courreges |
England's 2007 World Cup scrum-half Shaun Perry talks to FRC about moving to
Brive, the joy of French rugby, his previous life as a
welder, going wild boar hunting with Steve Thompson (or not), the
excitement of the Heineken Cup and his burning ambition to
pull on the Red Rose once more.
When Shaun Perry gave
up welding to turn professional in 2005 the feisty
Wolverhampton-born scrum-half could barely have imagined the
sporting odyssey on which he was about to embark.
Within 11 games of
making his Premiership (and professional) debut for Bristol
– at the none too tender age of 27 - he was called into the
England ‘A’ squad. By August of the following year he was in
England’s Elite Player Squad and on November 5th
2006 he unleashed his own fireworks by scoring a 65m
breakaway try on full international debut, against the All
Blacks no less.
Life for the former
Dudley Kingswingfield player had certainly taken a dramatic
turn for the better, and with the 2007 World Cup looming on
the horizon it seemed that one of rugby’s late bloomers was
about to complete a fairytale rags-to-riches scenario.
Read More... |
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By Colin Spiro,
23
August 2009
|
Lions' pride:
Brive's Riki Flutey
Photo: Michael Paler |
England centre Riki Flutey talks to FRC about moving to
Brive, the joys of fatherhood, his French ancestry
(really!), his relationship with 'Johnno', the struggle to
learn a new language and how he came within a whisker of
being sent home from the British Lions' tour.
Riki Flutey tends to polarise views. New Zealand born and
bred, he played for the All Blacks age groups right through
to the verge of the senior team before a stalling career led
to him decamping to England and throwing in his lot with the
2003 World Cup winners. His shortened vowels are a giveaway,
and he makes no apologies for switching alliances, but while
some welcome his undoubted talent with open arms others are
sent into fits of apoplexy by his utilization of a system
many see as flawed.
Pulling on the red rose
proved hard for some to stomach, an indigestible taster that
turned out merely to be the hors d’oeuvre. This summer he
went on to represent the British and Irish Lions, in the
process entering the record books as the first person to
ever play both for and against the hallowed team.
Read More... |
22 July
2009
|
Ross Skeate:
Focused
© RossSkeate.com 2008 |
Frenchrugbyclub.com catches up
with Toulon lock, and friend of the site, Ross Skeate as
Jonny Wilkinson's new club prepare for their opening
pre-season friendly against Brive on Friday.
Toulon lock Ross Skeate said
the big-spending Top 14 side has targeted Heineken Cup
qualification as their sole aim for next season.
“For us obviously in
Europe you want to play in the Heineken Cup, so either
winning the European Challenge Cup or finishing in the top
six will give us that opportunity, so I think as a squad
we’re pretty focused on that and what that means.
Top 14 Table
/
Top 14 Transfers
/
ProD2 Transfers
/
Top 14
Fixtures 2009/10
/
Pre-season friendlies
“With so many games it
means winning your home games and then playing well away,
that’s something that we’re trying to get going. We need to
start the season well and of our first four games three of
them are at home, so we really need to get maximum points
out of those first four and then go from there,” said the
South African second row.
Read More... |
27 May 2009
|
Winning is not enough:
Byron Kelleher
Photo: Michael Paler |
Former All Blacks
scrum-half Byron Kelleher has become Guy Noves’ go-to man at Stade
Toulousain. A beacon of the fire that breathes through a squad determined to
end the season with yet another French Championship. Clermont Auvergne –
last year’s beaten finalists – stand in their way in Friday’s semi-final,
but Kelleher – only recently back from injury – told frenchrugbyclub.com
that nothing but victory would suffice to appease the demanding standards
set by the club and its impassioned supporters.
At 32 and the veteran of
three World Cups and 59 All Black caps Byron Kelleher has every right to be
in the winding down phase of his illustrious career. That, however, could
not be further from the truth as the gnarly number nine is now at the peak
of his considerable powers and flourishing in the rugby-mad confines of his
new environs at French rugby giants Stade Toulousain.
Read More... |
14 May
2009
|
Ross Skeate:
Eye on the ball
© RossSkeate.com 2008 |
South African second row Ross
Skeate says Toulon’s turnaround in results –
which culminated in Top 14 survival
last weekend – had nothing to do with coaching.
Toulon appeared
destined for the drop after winning only three of their
first 15 games, but Tana Umaga’s outfit hauled themselves
away from the drop zone with five wins and a draw in their
last 10 matches – including a morale-boosting 14-6 home win
against Stade Toulousain.
Top 14 Table
/ Top 14 Fixtures
/
Top 14 Transfers
“I think we just got
used to each other,” explained Skeate, who was among a
plethora of new arrivals after Toulon secured promotion as
ProD2 champions in 2007/8. “The seasons here are quite long
and the major thing was the guys took a few months to get to
know each other. I think that was the major reason [for the
upturn in results]. There was no real revolution of coaching
or anything like that. The guys just got used to playing
with each other.
Read More... |
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By Colin Spiro, 10 May 2009
|
Jonny Wilkinson:
French fancy
Photo: Michael Paler |
The comings and goings
at Toulon over the next two weeks are set to make fascinating viewing now
that the cash-laden club has secured its Top 14 status.
The season-long battle
finally came to a successful conclusion
at Dax
on Friday night, but less than 48 hours later the club was
already
waving goodbye to Jerry Collins, the former
All-Black flanker and cousin of player-coach Tana Umaga.
Top 14 Table
/ Top 14 Fixtures
/
Top 14 Transfers
Collins
was an influential figure in the club’s fight for safety and
one can only speculate on the exact reasons for departure
(on a two-year deal to the Ospreys). It may be a purely
personal preference to play in Wales, but one thing is for
certain; Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal will have known
about this development for some time, and – together with
incoming director of rugby Philippe Saint-André
– will have planned accordingly.
Read More... |
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By Colin Spiro, 26 April
2009
|
Wanted: Mercurial
fly-half Francois Steyn
Photo: Steve Haag
Back Page Sport.com |
Racing-Metro 92
confirmed their promotion to Top 14 on
Sunday, becoming the capital’s second club in
France’s premier division.
But who, or what, are
Racing-Metro 92, and what are their chances of making an
impact in the top flight given the struggles of Toulon and
Mont-de-Marsan this season?
Of last year’s two
promoted clubs Racing bear strongest comparison to Toulon as
they will go up on the back of sustained league success and
bankrolled by an ambitious multi-millionaire.
For Mourad Boudjellal
read Jacky Lorenzetti, the uber-wealthy boss of real estate
giants Foncia who isn’t shy of investing his millions into
Racing.
Read More... |
|
02 April 2009
|
Centre of attention:
Brive-bound Riki Flutey
Photo: Michael Paler |
In the second of a
two-part exclusive interview Brive CEO Simon Gillham
explains why he was so riled by BBC commentator Ian
Robertson, Brive’s unique take on transfer policy, his
relationship with Rob Andrew, the club’s future plans and
why Steve Thompson should be playing for England again.
Part I: The secrets behind Brive's
French success
On February 17th
2009 Brive announced they had signed England centre Riki
Flutey. It was a big enough story on its own – one of
England’s best players moving across the Channel to play in
Top 14 – but when his club London Wasps also confirmed that
international
colleagues James Haskell and Tom Palmer would be joining
Stade Francais all hell suddenly broke lose.
It was a huge story -
three England players announcing they were moving to France
in one day. The (largely one-eyed) media uproar was
unprecedented, and, as Brive’s CEO, Simon Gillham fell well
and truly into the firing line.
Read More... |
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01 April 2009
|
On the charge:
Steve Thompson
© Diarmid Courreges |
In the first of a
two-part exclusive interview Brive CEO Simon Gillham
explains how the former European champions have turned
themselves from a team struggling to retain Top 14 status
into a League of Nations collective now pushing once more
for major honours. Gillham who, remarkably in this day and
age, performs his CEO duties unpaid, takes us behind the
scenes to help explain one of the stories of the season as
the 2008/9 Championship draws to a thrilling climax.
Sport, like politics,
is a fickle environment with little room for sentiment as
fortunes oscillate between success and failure. Lose and
you’re out; win and you’re a hero.
Five games into this
season’s Top 14 campaign ‘big spending’ Brive were being
barracked for cobbling together a motley crew of ageing
internationals seemingly intent on enjoying a final pay day
in the sleepy surrounds of a once mighty fallen giant. They
were win-less, bottom of the league and had just four points
to their name.
Read More... |
|
By Colin Spiro, 23 February 2009
|
C'est la vie:
Steve Thompson
© Diarmid Courreges |
After a dramatic week that saw
current England stars Riki Flutey, James Haskell and
Tom Palmer sign to play in Top 14 next season,
FRC talked to Brive’s former England
international Steve Thompson about the
attraction of earning and living in France, and how
he's made a remarkable playing comeback after
breaking his neck.
Anyone
wondering why England centre Riki Flutey opted to sign for
French club Brive this week should pay a quick call on Steve
Thompson.
The
England World Cup winner and former Northants star heads a
growing enclave of British players at the ambitious Top 14
side, and has even been instrumental in the recruitment of
some.
Fellow
World Cup winner Ben Cohen followed over on Thompson’s
recommendation, as did Irish duo Christian Short and Damien
Browne – all three from Northampton. Even former England and
Saracens centre Ben Johnston came over via the veteran
hooker after a failed medical had, ironically, scuppered a
proposed move to Northampton.
Read More... |
|
By Colin Spiro,
18 February
2009
|
Brive's latest signing: Wasps
and England star Riki Flutey
Photo: Michael Paler |
And so it has come to pass.
After months of speculation and rumour, three of England’s
leading talents have confirmed they’re upping sticks and
heading for the land of cheese, garlic, and – most
importantly – bucket loads of euros… or that’s what the
British press would have you believe.
‘The English game is in
crisis and these selfish mercenaries have put cash before
national honour’, has been the general tenor of the response
to news that
Riki Flutey, James Haskell and Tom
Palmer have all signed to play in Top 14 next season.
Emergency meetings have
been called for amidst much wailing and gnashing of crooked
teeth – best keep the clichés going – and some (most notably
Bath coach Steve Meehan) have even called for those tempted
abroad to be banned from playing for England.
Few have seriously
asked whether playing in Top 14 might actually benefit the
players’ development and, therefore, England’s too. Just ask
Andy Goode why he believes he’s earned an England recall
this season and he’ll bounce straight back saying that
playing at Brive has broadened his horizons and actually
improved him as a player and person.
Read More... |
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By Colin Spiro, 12 December
2008
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Ben Cohen: French connection
© Diarmid Courreges |
Ben Cohen talks to FRC about his move to Brive and
how having twins has changed his perspective on
life.
"I genuinely do think that French
rugby is behind – not necessarily on the pitch,
because they can go and beat anyone of their given
day – but I think behind the scenes they are" - Ben
Cohen
England World Cup winner Ben Cohen says he has no
regrets about joining French Top 14 side Brive,
where he is currently plying his trade with fellow
Brits Andy Goode, Steve Thompson and Barry Davies.
The 30-year-old
winger would love to still be playing for his
country but is resigned to life on the international
hard shoulder after deciding to up sticks and move
to France in 2007.
Up until then
Cohen had been a one-team man, racing in for more
than 100 tries for his beloved Northampton Saints
before the relationship broke down when he was
overlooked for the captaincy.
A brief break from
the game was followed by his transfer to Top 14 side
Brive - or
Club
Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin to give it its
full name -
with whom he is now enjoying his second season as
they fight for Heineken Cup qualification.
Read More... |
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09 December 2008
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Skeate: Eye on the ball
© RossSkeate.com 2008 |
"Structured
rugby has its place, but I wanted to be in the French league
that was full of flair and running sort of rugby" - Ross
Skeate
At 6ft
7ins Ross Skeate is used to making a big impression, but
Toulon’s new South African lock is hoping that it’s his game
– not just his frame – that sets tongues wagging in Top 14.
The
26-year-old joined Toulon from Western Province last month
and said he is already relishing the change of continents
and rugby styles as he begins to settle in to life in the
south of France.
“They
are a great bunch of guys and when I arrived they were
really easy to get along with and people like Jerry Collins
– who I played with for the Barbarians – have really helped
me find my feet. We are a very tight squad,” said the
imposing second row.
But how
did a talented South African - capped at school, under-19
and under-21 level – come to ply his trade down in the
harbour town of Toulon?
“Basically I found myself in a position where I didn’t want
to be, playing-wise and career-wise, and I thought something
fresh would challenge me. I needed a new obstacle and to
experience a new way of doing things,” he explained.
“That
was really the major reason for my decision – that I needed
a fresh challenge and I needed to get better as a player. I
wasn’t getting enough game time (in South Africa) so I
decided to come out here and face a new challenge.”
Read More... |
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by Johnny Lidgate 03 December 2008
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Free-wheeling: Stade Toulouse |
We at FRC
wanted to know just why French giants Stade Toulouse are
consistently regarded as the best team in Europe, so we sent
special correspondent Johnny Lidgate along to the
Ernest-Wallon to find out why. Here's what he thought...
One club stands above all
others in European rugby.
They are three-time
Heineken Cup champions - a record - and 17-time champions of
France, also a record.
They are the Rouges et
Noir from the Ville Rose and to the Anglophone ear even
their nickname has a certain cachet compared to the
sub-American monikers - Force, anyone? - of say, the Super
14.
I write, of course, of
French aristocrats Stade Toulousain.
The city of Toulouse
nestles in the heart of French rugby's heartland, the south
west of the country.
Read More... |
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by Colin Spiro 19 November 2008
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Lapasset: "I am a rugby
man first" |
Part III:
More than just a game
“In the finals of the last two world cups in
2003 and 2007 there has been just one try and people have
played for just not losing the game; we don’t play to win
the game with motion and creativity. We need that.”
In the third and concluding part of our
exclusive interview with Bernard Lapasset we found out what
makes the IRB chairman tick, how best to integrate
Argentina, why the ELVs are proving so contentious and where
he sees the future of his beloved game going.
Being chairman of an international sporting
body is an onerous task, especially in terms of the amount
of time spent travelling, meeting and greeting. There are
endless functions to attend, dignitaries to speak to and
issues to address, especially when trying to drive an
expansionist vision through what some perceive as an archaic
organisation.
The onset of open professionalism, the growth
in popularity of the Rugby World Cup and the push for
Olympic inclusion all mean that Lapasset has a full and
diverse diary which takes him constantly around the globe.
“I have no more house, no more family, no
more team, no more language. My language is different now,
it’s totally changed,” he laments jokingly when reflecting
on his hectic schedule.
Read More...
Bernard Lapasset Interview Part I:
My Olympic Dream
Bernard Lapasset Interview
Part 2: My Hopes and Fears For The Game |
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by Colin Spiro 29 October 2008
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Cash fears: Bernard Lapasset |
Part II: My
hopes and fears for the game
"The selector is the
agent. The agent is monitoring the game in the world and
that is crazy. We need to change that.”
In the second instalment of our exclusive three-part
interview with Bernard Lapasset the IRB chairman talks about
the Rugby World Cup, spreading the game globally and his
concerns about European money unbalancing the sport. (Bernard
Lapasset Interview Part I: My Olympic Dream)
Rugby union’s profile has never been higher. Players’
earning powers are continuing to soar, as is the income from
sponsors and television, but not everything about rugby’s
current status is pleasing the IRB chairman, and he is
particularly concerned about the financial strength of
British and French clubs.
“The problem of money is
difficult because the maximum money is concentrated in
Europe. There are a lot of players coming from the southern
hemisphere – from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand –
and we must be careful because we could destroy the value of
players in Europe.
“A lot of people say ‘Oh,
Bernard, but the money is in the north’, but the money is
not the true value of the game. The value of the game is
having players coming through and to promote good players
into the national side. We have the money but we don’t have
a good system for developing good players in rugby in the
north.”
The emerging north-south
divide is something that concerns Lapasset greatly, and one
he says needs urgent addressing.
“We are not the same
calendar in the north and the south, so we could destroy
totally the competition in the south. We must think all the
time how we are going to promote the game because we are not
the best against the bet at the moment,” he warned.
Read More... |
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by Colin Spiro 21 October 2008
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Holding Court: Bernard Lapasset |
Part I:
My Olympic dream
“I think the Olympics
needs rugby. We have the possibility to extend the value of
the Olympic movement in the world.”
Big crowds, big money, big television audiences and even
bigger television revenues. The world economy may be
experiencing ‘le credit crunch’ but these are boom times for
rugby union as it seeks to establish itself as a truly
global sport.
Rugby has seemingly never
been in ruder health, but for one man that is not enough.
There are a series of vast challenges that lay ahead,
demanding his full-time attention and an almost missionary
zeal as he seeks to spread the good word around the world.
His name is Bernard
Lapasset, the current chairman of the International Rugby
Board – presently in his second three-year term - and the
man widely responsible for ensuring the last Rugby World
Cup, hosted by his native France, was deemed such a success.
Not satisfied with having
already laid a sufficient legacy for most normal men
Lapasset is now steering the IRB through a maze of other
ventures designed to cherish, nurture and develop his
beloved sport – a role that requires him to jet-set around
the world in search of new markets, new methods and new
alliances.
Here, in an exclusive
three-part interview with French Rugby Club, Lapasset talks
about rugby’s continuing push to be included in the Olympic
Games, why Russia and Brazil are getting him excited, the
ongoing confusion over ELVs, the expanding north-south
monetary divide and how the IRB is planning to integrate
Argentina more fully into the top-level of international
rugby. Oh, and why he also had three breakfasts a day when
he was in Beijing recently.
Read More... |
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10 September 2008
 Patience,
it seems, may not be a word that flows freely from
the loquacious tongue of Toulon’s wealthy but
demanding president Mourad Boudjellal.
Having successfully bank-rolled the
club back into Top 14 the comic book magnate – that
is he made his fortunes in the industry, not that he
is cartoon like – is apparently now seething that
his superstar team isn’t flying high at the head of
the league playing free-flowing rugby for fans to
drool over.
Okay, that might be a slight
exaggeration but it has been widely reported in the
French press this week that Boudjellal has had
“talks” with coach Tana Umaga following the club’s
first defeat of the season, 18-25 away to fellow
newcomers Mont-de-Marsan. That’s right, FIRST defeat
of the season. Next thing you know, Umaga will be
getting the dreaded ‘vote of confidence’.
Now, it is true that the new Top 14
season is only three games old, so that’s a loss
rate of 33.33% - unacceptably high for an ambitious
club - but it’s also true that Toulon began with an
excellent home win against championship aspirants
Clermont (22-16) and followed up with a draw (3-3)
against big-spenders Brive.
Read More... |
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By Colin Spiro 29th August 2008
There are many reasons I started
this website but the main one is a growing love of
the French club rugby scene ever since moving down
to the Pyrenees two years ago.
As a kid I idolised Jean-Pierre
Rives with his unkempt hair and Serge Blanco with
his unparalleled flair, but it wasn’t until actually
living in France that I began to appreciate the true
passion for the game, especially down here in ‘Le
Sud’.
It’s the colour that gets you
first, then the noise as the team and supporters
entwine in L’espirit de clocher.
You can admire the free running
and the willingness to entertain, or you can relish
‘Le combat’, with its potential for ‘bagarres
generales’ (all-in brawls) to explode at any moment.
Whatever it is that draws you in,
and it could just be the burgeoning numbers of
etrangieres, it is impossible to deny that French
club rugby is a vibrant amalgam of pride, skill and
fervent parochialism – as all the best sports are.
That’s what I want to share with
you and here in this section I’ll be picking out
favourite clips from You Tube to help illustrate
that belief. They are, of course, all personal
selections, but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless.
Read
More... |
Money
Talks: The Sonny 'Bill' Williams transfer saga
By Colin Spiro 19th August 2008
His name
conjures images of the Wild West and until recently his
rugby prowess was largely unknown within the Union world,
but Toulon's protracted and controversial signing of
Australia's National Rugby League star Sonny 'Bill' Williams
could have a seismic effect on the future of rugby - Union
and League - both here and in the southern hemisphere.
Firstly, now that it
has been resolved, the transfer is a massive coup for the
newly promoted Top14 club currently trying to build a squad
fit for survival under the tutelage of coach and Tana Umaga.
The former
Canterbury Bulldogs player not only continues the drift of
code-switchers from southern hemisphere rugby league -
following the signings of such players as Craig Gower (by
Bayonne last year) and Mark Gasnier (by Stade Francais this
year) - but also confirms both the draw of the Euro and the
lure of playing club rugby in France.
Read
More... |
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11 August 2008
 It’s been a frantic
off-season of transfer activity in France with the
cash-happy Top14 clubs busier than a rum-soaked stag on a
night out in Ibiza.
There’s been the
usual plethora of ageing internationals heading down to the
‘Le Sud’ for a sunshine swansong in the land of good living,
but the arrival of southern hemisphere giants like Dan
Carter, Jerry Collins, Mark Gasnier and of course the
controversial Sonny ‘Bill’ Williams has stirred up some
something of a hornets nest down under. Here in France it’s
produced nothing more than the archetypal Gallic shrug –
‘your loss is our gain’ type of thing – with the likely
knock-on effect of increased crowds, revenue, television
interest and, guess what, even more power in next year’s
transfer market.
Read More...
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