Stade Francais’ England flanker James Haskell is the new cover boy of ‘Dieux de Stade’ – the club’s world-famous calendar which features largely naked players, and sold over 200,000 copies last year.

Haskell confided in a Sunday Times interview that the shoot took place on top of a Paris car park, with the player saying: “What greater commitment can a man show his club than to stand bollock naked on a rooftop holding a golden rugby ball over his groin?”

The self-confident player also said that the cross-Channel move had so far turned out far more positively than some (including himself) had feared.

“I feel more comfortable than I did six or nine months ago. I’m in a better place, I feel I’ve already grown since coming here, that I’ve found my feet,” he said.

The former London Wasps star is hoping that his excellent start to the Top 14 season will earn him an England recall, but don’t go asking him for international tickets should that happen, as the Stade Francais flanker has been banned from buying them for three games after some of his allocation ended up on the black market during last year’s Six Nations Championship.

Sacked Wallaby Lote Tuqiri is allegedly now in negotiations with Toulon as he continues to seek a move to Top 14. The 67-Test international is also reportedly interesting Welsh side Ospreys, having already been knocked by Bayonne due to his inflated wage demands.

The player himself suggested he could even end up signing for South African Super 14 side the Western Province Stormers. “I’m talking to Toulon and I might even be playing against the boys next year in South Africa,” he said while commentating on the Australian website clubrugby.com

But Stormers managing director Rob Wagner denied that Tuqiri was being lined up for a possible transfer. “It’s absolute nonsense,” he told rugby365.com. Toulon have also been silent on their supposed interest in the league and union international.

The Cote d’Azur club has also not commented on reports in the French press today that Argentine fly-half Felipe Contepomi has not yet been registered by the LNR. Contepomi is currently out injured but had been hoping to qualify for Toulon through an Italian passport.

Elsewhere, LNR president Pierre-Yves Revol has called for an end to player fights that continue off the pitch. Revol spoke out after Albi’s home win over Bayonne on Friday featured several testy encounters, which the league’s disciplinary panel is currently investigating.

“One can fight on the pitch, but afterwards you must learn to step back,” he told L’Equipe. “This is the essence of rugby,” added Revol.

Biarritz’s former Leicester centre Ayoola Erinle ‘only sustained a large wound to the face’ according to the club’s website. The Nigerian-born former England sevens international was carried off on Saturday during Biarritz’s home win over Toulon after getting a stray boot in the face from Scottish full-back Rory Lamont.

Racing-Metro 92 have decided not to pursue their interest in Castres flanker Alexandre Bias. The Paris club had been running the rule of Bias during a two-week trial period following injury to Alvaro Gallindo.

Finally, injured Brive and England centre Riki Flutey, meanwhile, is helping pass his time by acting as an observer for his new club. “I take notes on the game and make myself useful,” he told La Montagne after Brive’s Friday win against Castres. “I found we were more creative but I am disappointed that we didn’t manage to convert some of opportunities to score,” he added.