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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.
The long-term impact
of such high-profile signings is what worries the
Australians and Kiwis most, with the latter already relaxing
their stringent qualification rules to allow Carter to fill
his pockets at Perpignan and yet remain an All Black. For
Australia the worry is the death of NRL, the self-proclaimed
home of rugby league currently shaken to its core by the
desertion of Williams to Toulon with four years still to run
on his contract.
The recriminations
of that move are likely to run for some time yet with the
battle now moving into the Australian courts, but what it
illustrates beyond doubt – whatever the legal outcome – is
the pulling power of the Euro, and the growing dominance of
Union over League.
With Stade Francais
signing up Mark Gasnier – another of the Aussies’ would-be
poster boys for the forthcoming Rugby League World Cup – it
seems the flow to Union is now something more than a
trickle, and there’s little doubt that State of Origin stars
such as Israel Folau and Greg Inglis will also be targeted.
As NRL agent Steve
Gillis admitted: “I think that, when it comes to the very
best players, it [the top14] will turn out to be a bigger
threat than the English Super League”.
For the time being,
though, it is Carter and Williams who will share the
spotlight, with the latter taking centre stage at first
until the Kiwis’ mercurial fly-half arrives following the
All Blacks’ winter European internationals.
Many expected Carter
to team up with former All Black Tana Umaga at Toulon, but
the world’s leading union star decided the lure of Heineken
Cup action was too great and opted for Perpignan instead.
Toulon, meanwhile,
will have to make do with the arrival of Williams – who has
declared his ambition of playing for the All Blacks – and
Umaga’s cousin Collins, together with feisty Aussie
scrumhalf Matt Henjak and yet another league recruit in the
shape of Luke Rooney.
Up front they have
opted for South African granite, in the shape locks Ross
Skeate and Francois van der Merwe, together with hooker
Tiaan Liebenberg and loose forward Joe Van Niekerk.
The likes of Andrew
Merhtens and Victor Matfield may have departed but Toulon’s
voracious recruitment policy means the ProD2 champions could
be a force to be reckoned with in their first season back at
the top table, with a mouth-watering opening home game
against Clermont on August 26th to kick-start their
campaign.
Current champions
Toulouse have opted for quality over quantity – and with
their squad who wouldn’t? - with fly-halves David Skrela and
Frédéric Michalak returning to ‘La Ville Rose’ from Stade
Francais and Durban Sharks respectively. The challenge for
Guy Novès this year will be to go one better than 2007-8 and
take the famed double of the Bouclier de Brennus and the
Heineken Cup.
Former All Black
scrum-half Byron Kelleher has signed on until 2011 now and
will be relishing the challenge of pitting himself
Montpellier’s latest Kiwi recruit Justin Marshall, himself
an ex-All Black scrum half signed from the Ospreys, where he
will be joined by Leicester and England centre Ollie Smith.
Another England
international heading south is flanker Magnus Lund, now part
of Biarritz’ enlarged squad as they seek to improve on last
year’s disappointing sixth position. Fly-half Valentin
Courrent has also joined from Toulouse, with Canterbury prop
Campbell Johnstone and French international Fabien Barcella
adding quality in the forwards.
Former Stade
Francais flanker Remy Martin has thrown in his lot with
Bayonne, together with Reds prop Rodney ‘Rodzilla’ Blake,
while Stade’s new coach Australian Ewen Mckenzie has
recruited Gasnier, Argentines Juan Manuel Leguizamon and
Ignacio Mieres, together with Springbok scrumhalf Falie
Oelschig.
Brive have been the
busiest of the Top14 clubs with England and Leicester
fly-half Andy Goode heading an incoming list that includes
fellow Brits Damien Browne, Christian Short, Liam Davies and
Alix Popham. French lock Arnaud Mela has also signed, with
Argentines Pablo Henn and Horacio Agulla among more than 15
new players on board.
Other notable
signings have included Reds prop Ben Coutts (to
Mont-de-Marsan), Chiefs prop Simms Davidson (to Clermont),
Wellington Hurricanes wing Shannon Paku (to Montauban) and
Italian fullback David Bortolussi (moving from Montpellier
to Dax).
Some will no doubt
settle faster than others, but the flow of talent, brute
force and charisma looks set to ensure that this year’s
Top14 continues its drive to the pre-eminent club
competition in Europe, and perhaps in the ling-term, the
world.
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