Barbarians name Saint-André as coach, and include Toulon-bound Sackey and Hayman

14 April 2010

Toulon head coach Philippe Saint-André has been handed the honour of taking charge of the Barbarians for their two summer internationals against England and Ireland.

Saint-André will team up with former Sale Sharks colleague Kingsley Jones for the tour, and has already used his Toulon connections by helping persuade Paul Sackey and Carl Hayman (who will both join Toulon in the summer) to don the famous Barbarians' shirt.

Former Toulon player - and Barbarians regular - Jerry Collins is also in the squad, and the world's most famous invitational club has further confirmed that England outcast Danny Cipriani would play for them before heading off to take up his contract with Super 15 franchise Melbourne Rebels.

All Blacks international Doug Howlett, Ireland flanker Alan Quinlan and fellow Munster players Jean de Villiers and Paul Warwick have also been named, with more international stars to be confirmed once domestic league play-offs have become clearer.

"Such a demanding itinerary places the onus on us to assemble top quality individuals from around the world and, once again, we are encouraged by the readiness of such players to accept invitations to join us," said Barbarians president Micky Steele-Bodger.

And he added that Saint-André and Jones were the perfect duo to take charge of the squad for the matches against England (at Twickenham on May 30) and Ireland (at Thomond Park on June 4). "Both were proud Barbarians in their playing days," Steele-Bodger said. "We are delighted to have the opportunity to re-unite them, also in a coaching capacity, for the Barbarians," he added.

Meanwhile, Connacht Rugby officials have confirmed that their Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final against Saint-André's Toulon will go ahead as planned at their Sportsground.

Connacht CEO Gerry Kelly said capacity for the April 30th showdown would be temporarily expanded from 5,000 to "at least 8,000" for the Bank Holiday weekend match.

"We are delighted with the outcome. It is where the players and management want it, and we wanted to reward our loyal supporters and the local business community who have backed us on good days and bad," said Kelly.

Biarritz are reportedly in negotiations with Australian rugby league star Johnathan Thurston.

Sources in Australia claim that current Biarritz player Karmichael Hunt is acting as a go-between for his former NRL colleague, with Thurston being tipped to join on a lucrative contract this summer.

Hunt is heading back to Australia to take up a deal in the AFL at the end of this season, but his friendship with Thurston could yet pay dividends for the Basques

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Australia's Daily Telegraph claimed a 'source close to Thurston' as saying: "They are good mates. They talk all the time and Hunt wants him to play for Biarritz."

The report also said the potential transfer was being handled by Pierre Vandome - the agent who oversaw Hunt's short-term contract with Biarritz.

Thurston's manager Sam Ayoub confirmed talks were going on with potential clubs but refused to name names. Thurston, 27 later this month, currently plays for North Queensland Cowboys. If he did move to France he would follow in the footsteps of fellow NRL recruits Mark Gasnier (Stade Francais), Sonny Bill Williams (Toulon), Craig Gower (Bayonne) and, of course, Hunt (Biarritz).

Thurston, who could play at either scrum-half or fly-half, is out of contract at the end of this season and is also said to weighing up offers to play in Japan.

Biarritz have largely remained tight-lipped on the possible move, although assistant coach Jack Isaac said rumours that Thurston would pick up a mindboggling salary of €900,000 per season salary at Biarritz were "ridiculous".

"Karmichael Hunt told us that Thurston was a player of very high calibre, but his price is too high. For the moment we cannot progress," Isaac told rugbyrama.

But while Thurston's possible move remains a work in progress there have been several other confirmed transfers involving French clubs already this week, with ProD2 side Dax naming a trio of Bayonne players among six new signings on Tuesday.

Mickaera Tewhata, Jacques Deen and Filimone Bolavucu have all confirmed they will be leaving the Basque club in the summer to follow former coach Jean-Philippe Coyola to Dax. The former Top 14 side - who captured Coyola after he was sacked in mid-season by Bayonne - have also announced that Tarbes fly-half Richard Apanui, Biarritz prop Rémy Hughes and Toulon flanker Cédric Beal will be joining them, while existing players Régis Rameau, Mickael Bert, Laurent Diaz and Matthieu Lièvremont (brother of France coach Marc) have all signed contract extensions.

Dax are also in negotiations with former Brive scrum-half Liam Davies. The 24-year-old returned to Wales this season with the Ospreys but has been on loan with London Welsh of late.

Castres have also been active and are nearing completion of the capture of Stade Francais hooker Benjamin Kayser. The 25-year-old has had only limited opportunities in Paris this season since joining from Leicester Tigers and is keen to move on to further his career.

Clermont Auvergne prop Lionel Faure is on the comeback trail after recovering from a torn hamstring and knee ligament damage sustained on February 20 against SCA Albi.

Faure played for the Espoirs at the weekend - although not in the front row as he is over 23. "I played in the second row and it went well," he said afterwards. "This bodes well for the end of the season and I am hoping to play against Castres on Friday," he told L'Equipe.

Two players who definitely won't be action this weekend, however, are Stade Toulousain duo William Servat and Yannick Jauzion. The international duo must observe a week's mandatory rest, as stipulated by the LNR, and will now sit out their team's clash with Bourgoin.

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