ProD2 new boys Lannemezan have finalised their transfer activity for the forthcoming season, signing a whopping 19 players, including many from neighbouring clubs Tarbes and Pau. They have also brought Patrick Bentayou on board as an additional coach following the retirement of Michel Antichan.

They have also been granted permission by the LNR to play all their home games on Sunday afternoons, rather than Saturday evenings, due to inadequate floodlight facilities. A Similar arrangement was agreed last season for Bourg-en-Bresse.

Local rivals Tarbes, meanwhile, continue to be mired in financial and political problems that are seriously hampering their own pre-season plans. They are currently subject to a transfer embargo having come within a whisker of being relegated to Federale 1 at the end of last season due to financial problems.

That hasn’t prevented a number of players leaving the club, with Lannemezan snapping up four themselves in the shape of Emmanuel Herbin, Damien Tihac, Christophe Dasque and Yannick Jambaque. They have also lost Florent Fourcade (to SCA Albi), Maxime Santoni (to Aix-en-Provence) and Englishman Rory Teague (to Aurillac).

As if that wasn’t bad enough the remaining players were greeted with a coach no-show when they returned for pre-season this week with only one of the three in evidence following behind-the-scenes shenanigans.

Manager Christian Martinez and forwards coach Frederic Bodin were both conspicuous by the absence, leaving Philippe Berot to hold the fort.

Future club president Jean-Pierre Davant claimed he had prevented Martinez from resigning on Monday morning, muttering darkly about an alleged “breach of contract by mutual consent”, but Martinez subsequently rubbished those claims. “I did not resign, they want me to leave,” he told the rugbyrama website. “I very much regret this situation for the players, who are forced to suffer and do not deserve it. It makes me sick all this,” he added.

Amid rumour and counter rumour it was reported that the players had sided with Martinez over Berot in a challenge to the current coaching set-up, but Devant – who takes office at a special general meeting on July 24 – denied that was so.

“This is Martinez and Bodin who say that,” said Devant. “The players consider Berot as a man of great quality who can give them a lot,” he added in support of the former Auch and Castres coach.

According to Devant team manager Martinez was offered the post of forwards coach as part of the club’s ongoing cost-cutting. “He did not want to accept my proposal, it is his right, but I cannot let him say that we have forced anyone to leave.

It is just further evidence of the confusion currently embroiling the troubled ProD2 club, with the incoming transfer embargo remaining in place because the reserve fund – 10% of the overall budget – still remaining unsecured.

Down in Federale 1 ambitious Marseilles-Vitrolles continue to build a squad to challenge for promotion. The surprise capture of 34-year-old former All Black winger Jonah Lomu may have dominated the headlines, but they have also been busy elsewhere on the transfer market.

Fellow ex-All Black Isitolo Maka has also joined, along with Fijian centre Julian Vulakoro, former Stade Toulousain lock David Gerard and Toulon’s Kiri Mariner. And their recruitment has not been limited to players with experience either, witness their double signing of Clermont Auvergne youngsters Roman Veniatis and Florent Giboudin, who both starred for Les Jaunards; Espoirs last season.

Former Exeter Chiefs centre Mark Fatialofa is still hanging out for a deal in France following his release from Sandy Park at the end of last season.

The 35-year-old New Zealander said he was “just looking to live the dream out there, going part-time somewhere easy by the sea”.

The Chiefs, meanwhile, have lost out on Tongan centre Suka Hufanga after he opted to stay in France despite being released by Top 14 outfit Brive. Hufanga had been due to play for the Chiefs in 2009/10 but has now signed to play for Federale 1 team USA Limoges instead.

“Suka would have added something to the squad but the fact is if he’s in a situation where he wouldn’t be happy if he came here, was missing his family and wanted to go back to France at every opportunity, you have got to say it’s best for both parties he stays there and lives in France,” said Exeter boss Rob Baxter.