Top 14: Thorne denies Toulon link;
Donguy's injury blamed on congested fixture list
30 March 2010
|
Out for the season: Yves Donguy
Photo: Michael Paler |
Springbok lock Bakkies Botha is said to have held
constructive talks with Toulon at the weekend over a
proposed move to the French club following the 2011 World
Cup.
The
30-year-old - currently recuperating from an Achilles
rupture - had dinner with club captain and fellow South
African Joe van Niekerk on Friday night as the pair watched
Toulon win 13-9 at Bourgoin.
Top 14 Table
/
Top 14 try-scorers
/
Top 14 Results
/
Top 14
Fixtures
Botha's
agent Gerrie Swart confirmed the pair had met but denied
Bulls star had also held talks with club president Mourad
Boudjellal.
There
seems little doubt, however, that Toulon want to sign Botha
- considered one of the world's best second row forwards.
They
unsuccessfully tried to land him in 2008 as a replacement
for Victor Matfield - another Springbok - but were
scuppered at the time by a contractual dispute that ended
with a court order in favour of the Bulls.
Weekend
reports that Reuben Thorne could be Toulon's next
transfer coup have been played down by the former All Blacks
captain, however, with the 35-year-old insisting that he is
committed to playing club rugby with Honda in Japan next
season.
"I have
not spoken to them [Toulon] and the agent I have been
dealing with has not mentioned them once," Thorne told the
Sydney Morning Herald.
Thorne,
capped 50 times by the All Blacks, is planning a return to
Japan after previously spending two seasons with Yamaha, and
confirmed that his Honda deal would be the culmination of
his 13-year professional career.
"Then I
will head back home for good after that. Yeah, that is
enough for me - I don't want to be away from home any
longer. That will do us," he added.
There
has been other confirmed transfer news though, with Brive
re-signing former fly-half Régis Lespinas from
Montauban for next season.
The 25-year-old hasn't played since September
due to ruptured knee ligaments, but will now return to the
club where he started his professional career, before spells
at Montpellier and Montauban.
Elsewhere, Montpellier have completed the capture of
Oyonnax's Georgian prop Giorgi Jgenti, 24, on a
two-year deal. The Hérault club also remains interested in
Jgenti's current club colleague Sylver Tian.
Top 14 Transfers 2010/11
Albi's
Kiwi fly-half Blair Stewart is also on the move, with
press reports in France claiming he will sign for ProD2
outfit Grenoble for next season. Elsewhere in ProD2, FC Auch
Gers' Alexandre Ricaud, 26, has signed a two-year contract
with Tarbes, while Biarritz fly-half Valentin Courrent has
agreed a two-year deal with ProD2 leaders SU Agen.
On the
contract front Bayonne have secured the services of
veteran prop Denis Avril for another season, meaning
he will be the oldest player in Top 14 as he turns 38 in
October.
Knee
injuries - the curse of the modern rugby player - have
claimed more casualties following a bruising weekend of Top
14 fixtures. Stade Toulousain's Yves Donguy
has been ruled out for the rest of the season - and beyond -
after damaging ligaments against Biarritz, while the
home side's Pelu
Taele-Pavihi has also ended his campaign
following a similar (though less serious) injury.
The 28-year-old Samoan looks
likely to miss the next six weeks, meaning he could miss the
latter stages of the Heineken Cup (should Biarritz overcome
the Ospreys) and the play-offs (provided the Basques can
force their way into the top six).
Donguy's injury - which
followed an earlier one for Frédéric Michalak which also
ended his season - prompted Stade Toulousain full-back
Clément Poitrenaud to comment that the club's players
were "dropping like flies" due to heavy playing demands.
Poitrenaud went to claim that
"the health of players is being severely tested", and was
critical of the LNR's decision to expand the play-offs this
season, thus adding an extra match.
Clermont Auvergne
assistant coach Joe Schmidt has admitted that the
club's ongoing quest for a maiden French title takes
precedence over European glory.
Schmidt, who is leaving to take
over at Leinster in the summer, told The Irish Times
that 'Les Jaunards' have targeted Top 14 success as their
main priority this season after losing the past three
play-off finals (and 10 in total).
"To be honest, if you asked our
supporters they would overwhelmingly declare the Bouclier de
Brennus as the major prize, because after 10 finals and 98
years of trying to win it they would really like to get
their hands on it. So, the European Cup has really been
secondary," he admitted.
|
