Stade Toulousain will have to wait up to 10 days to find out what – if any - punishment they face for fielding eight ineligible players against Montpellier in last Friday’s pre-season friendly.

Officials initially threatened to cancel the match shortly before kick off when they discovered that Toulouse coach Guy Noves had named eight players who had not completed their statutory five week rest period, before backing down and allowing the game to go ahead due to the number of supporters already in the ground.

Top 14 Table / Top 14 Transfers / ProD2 Transfers / Top 14 Fixtures 2009/10 / Pre-season friendlies

Toulouse went on to win 41-3 but the fielding of Yannick Nyanga, Grégory Lamboley, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Yves Donguy, Yoann Maestri, Yohan Montčs, Lamérat and Boukerou has seriously upset Provale, the players’ union.

A joint committee meeting – between Provale and the LNR - heard the case on Thursday, but Provale director general Gaël Arándiga said he didn’t expect an official outcome for up to 10 days. Stade Toulousain face heavy financial penalties for breaking the rest agreement.

French international Julien Brugnaut has signed to join Irish giants Munster from relegated Dax.

The 27-year-old prop will break new ground by becoming the first Frenchman to play for the Irish province having agreed a one-year deal with a further 12-month option.

Brugnaut, who previously played for Montpellier, has been capped twice at international level (both in 2008) and is expected to join the former European champions next week.

“I was immediately impressed with what I saw and heard,” he told the Munster website. “It is a very professional set-up. I am of course well aware of Munster and their great history in the Heineken Cup and I am very happy to be joining them and looking forward to the challenge,” added Brugnaut.

The French international said he was “living a dream” by signing for the Irish side. “My agent Miguel Fernandez warned me that Munster were interested. At the start of last week he called me to say we were going to Dublin to meet their directors. It was unbelievable,” he crooned.

The respect appears to be mutual with Munster president Garrett Fitzgerald saying: "We are delighted to be able to attract a player of Julien's quality and I believe it is a move that will reap dividends for both Munster and the player himself.”

Another French international attracting cross-Channel attention is out-of-contract full-back Nicolas Jeanjean, 28, who is due to have a trial with Leicester Tigers next week.

The Guinness Premiership champions are keen to have a closer look at the former Stade Toulousain and Stade Francais player, who has nine international caps under his belt.

“He has not re-signed for Stade Francais and is available,” said Tigers coach Richard Cockerill. “This is an opportunity for us to have a look at him. He has been capped several times and has been at two very good clubs – Toulouse and Stade Francais. You don’t play in those sort of environments if you are not a good player,” he told the Leicester Mercury.

Cockerill described Jeanjean as “a quality player” and said it was a good opportunity for the club while they are in France as part of their own pre-season build up. They are taking part in the Vacquerin Challenge, and are due to play Montpellier on Wednesday and Castres on Saturday.

Leicester rejuvenated the career of scrum-half Julien Dupuy last season after signing him from Biarritz, only to see him move back to France this summer when he signed for, you guessed it, Stade Francais.

Both Perpignan and the ACT Brumbies have named their sides for tonight’s friendly at the Stade Aimé Giral.

The Top 14 champions will be without a host of internationals for their opening pre-season match, while the Aussies – who have lost both of their games so far – have named Wallaby lock Peter Kimlin for the first time on their tour.

Kimlin is one of four internationals named in the Brumbies’ side, with the others being Stephen Hoiles, Josh Valentine and Guy Shepherdson. Christian Lealiifano starts at fly-half while the back three is made up of Alfi Mafi, Francis Fainifo and Pat McCabe.

Perpignan squad: Freshwater, Chobet, Bourrust, Brison, Schuster, Geli, Tincu, Britz, Olibeau, Alvarez-Kairelis, Vilaceca, Vivaldi, Guiry, curl, Perez, Durand, Cazenave, Hume, Laharrague, Grandclaude, Marty, Manas, Candelon, Porical, Burger, Michel, Battle

ACT Brumbies: 1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Salesi Ma'afu , 4. Ben Hand , 5. Peter Kimlin, 6. Henry Vanderglas, 7. Colby Faingaa, 8. Stephen Hoiles (c), 9. Josh Valentine, 10. Christian Lealiifano, 11. Francis Fainifo, 12. Tyrone Smith, 13. Andrew Smith, 14. Alfi Mafi , 15. Pat McCabe
Subs: 16. Anthony Hegarty, 17. Guy Shepherdson, 18. Sitaleki Timani, 19. Sokai Tai, 20. Patrick Phibbs, 21. Matt Toomua, 22. Shaun Foley, 23. Robbie Coleman, 24. Afusipa Taumoepeau, 25. Nic White, 26. Ed Gower

News in Brief:
* Clermont’s Julien Malzieu is back in training, with sessions on the treadmill and bike as the French international winger continues his rehab from a left foot injury which has sidelined him since April. His contract discussions have, however, hit the wall, with the player himself – who runs out of contract at the end of the season – saying talks with the club are currently “au point mort”.
* Brive’s players were called into training on Wednesday – usually their day off – to undergo an extra session of weights. The Limousin club has also installed the league’s tallest goal posts, standing at an impressive 16m.
* More than 2,500 supporters watched SCA Albi’s open training session on Wednesday as they continued preparation for tonight’s opening pre-season friendly at home to Stade Toulousain.
* Lyon OU coach Raphael Saint-André – brother of Toulon’s Philippe – says planning for the new season in ProD2 has been “very complicated” due to a 20% budget reduction. The loss of eight players has left the club light on experience, he conceded, but added: “There may be gaps, but there is also quality”. Despite the cut-backs both coach and president Yvan Patet have set promotion to Top 14 as their goal for 2009/10.
* Ambitious Fédérale 1 outfit Marseille-Vitrolles continue to strengthen their squad in preparation for a promotion push to ProD2. Having already secured the eye-catching transfers of former All Blacks Jonah Lomu and Isotolo Maka, they have now snapped up Toulon’s Gregori Labadze and Biarritz’s Mohammed Dridi.
* Players union Provale has granted those still without clubs a further six weeks to secure new contracts, extending the cut-off point from August 3 to September 15.
* Biarritz’s home pre-season friendly against Stade Toulousain on August 7 has been delayed from 20.30 to 21.00.