The transfer window for Top 14 has now officially closed, with only newcomers La Rochelle and SU Agen given an additional month to bolster their squads after promotion from ProD2.

Big spenders Toulon (12 signings) and Racing-Métro 92 (11) have again been among the busiest clubs, with the cash-rich duo signing a combined total of 23 new players between them. Bayonne (11), Agen (11) and Montpellier (10) have also been in frenetic mood, but it is the quality of the new arrivals at Toulon and Racing that sets them apart.

Toulon's recruits include England winger Paul Sackey, former All Blacks Carl Hayman and Rudi Wulf, as well as Wallaby legend George Smith. In addition they have picked up some of the best young French talent around with the likes of Thierry Brana, Benjamin Lapeyre and Jean-Philippe Genevois all joining the ambitious Cote D'Azur outfit.

Philippe Saint-André has now had a season to assess Toulon's relative strengths and weaknesses, and the revolving squad door also sees 14 departures, of which only three - Luke Rooney, Tana Umaga and Sonny Bill Williams - were probably against his wishes.

Racing's major coup sees Argentina's Juan Martin Hernandez return to Paris just one year after being forced out by their capital neighbours Stade Francais. He will be joined at Racing by former club colleague, and Italian international Mirco Bergamasco, while highly rated young France winger Benjamin Fall has also arrived from Bayonne.  In addition head coach Pierre Berbizier has snapped up Perpignan's battle-hardened scrum-half Nicolas Durand, as well as a quartet of Montauban players from the bankrupt former Top 14 club.

Both Toulon and Racing have moved to strengthen their squads ahead of making their European bow in the Heineken Cup next season, but the circumstances surrounding the fervid activity at Bayonne, Montpellier and SU Agen is quite different.

Bayonne have understandably gone for a player overhaul after only escaping relegation to ProD2 due to Montauban's bankruptcy. Experienced France fly-half Benjamin Boyet arrives from Bourgoin - to replace the now-retired Manny Edmonds - while former All Blacks flanker Troy Flavell has signed from Japanese club Mitsubishi Dynaboars. Abdelatif Boutaty and Julien Audy have both been picked up from the Montauban wreckage, while Australians Cameron Treloar and Garth Ziegler have arrived in combination with South African full-back Joe Pietersen. They have also strengthened their propping options by signing experienced duo Clement Baiocco and Tonga Lea'aetoa from Racing and Toulon respectively. Fall's replacement, meanwhile, is Agen's 22-year-old flyer Yohan Huget.

Montpellier have gone for the global recruitment approach as they seek to move up a notch under new head coach Fabien Galthié. Two fly-halves - Santiago Fernandez and Raphael Lagarde - have arrived to cover for the times when Francois Trinh-Duc is absent on international duty, while the front row has been strengthened with the addition of Giorgi Jgenti from Oyonnax and Sebastien Chobet from Perpignan. Fijian Timoci Nagusa has signed from Ulster to replace departed winger Thierry Brana, while former Albi head coach Eric Béchu is the club's new forwards coach.

ProD2 champions SU Agen have also had a squad overhaul as they seek to emulate their two predecessors - Toulon and Racing-Métro - and avoid the yo-yo scenario of dropping straight back down. Biarritz duo Valentin Courrent and Mosese Moala are among a number of players arriving with Top 14 experience, along with the Montauban pair of Brice Mach and Beka Sheklashvili and Stade Toulousain's Manu Ahotaeiloa (who is returning to his former club). Argentine Miguel Avramovic, American Kevin Swiryn and Fijian Osea Kolinisau add an international flavour.

Elsewhere, Top 14 champions Clermont Auvergne have limited their new additions to Kiwi hooker Ti'i Paulo, Fijian winger Kini Murimurivalu and former All Blacks number eight Sione Lauaki as they largely show faith with the squad which finally won them their inaugural French title in 2009/10. European champions Stade Toulousain have done their usual trick of picking up some of the best young talent around, this season adding Bourgoin flanker Sylvain Nicolas (22), Albi wing Pierre-Gilles Lakafia (22) and Dax's Argentine scrum-half Nicolas  Vergallo (26) to their world-renowned finishing school.

Heineken Cup runners-up Biarritz have made just two signings with Erik Lund joining brother Magnus, while veteran Stade Francais prop Sylvain Marconnet bolsters their already strong front-row options.

Top 14 runners-up Perpignan have also been restrained in their close-season recruitment, especially so following the collapse (on medical grounds) of Arnauld Tchougong's move from Bourgoin. They have made just two signings, with Albi scrum-half Kevin Boulogne replacing the Nicolas Durand and young centre Julien Fritz arriving from Lyon OU.

Bourgoin, meanwhile, have added eight new players to make up for seven close-season departures - although uncertainty still surrounds their financial viability with the DNACG threatening to block player licences once again. Their new faces include Samoan flanker Alex Tulou, South African prop Ruuan du Preez, Fijian winger Nemani Nadolo and Australian winger Brando Va'aulu.

Former big-spenders Brive have become more of a selling than buying club in the past 12 months, something confirmed by the departures of Riki Flutey, Andy Goode, Steve Thompson and Horacio Agulla, among others. In their place the Limousin club has bought almost exclusively French, with Stade Toulousain youngsters Julien Ledevedec and Mathieu Belie joining the likes of Regis Lespinas, Julien Caminati and Benoit Cabello in throwing in their lot with Ugo Mola's outfit. The only non-French arrival is Bourgoin's Argentine prop Pablo Cardinali.

Castres, one of the surprises of last season, have moved to build on their top six finish with 10 new players snapped up. They include Clermont's multi-skilled Fijian back Seremaia Bai, Toulon winger Sinoti Sinoti, Stade Francais hooker Benjamin Kayser and French rugby league convert Jamal Fakir as they ready themselves for Heineken Cup rugby.

Top 14 newcomers La Rochelle still have another month to finalise their transfer dealings, but they have already brought in four new faces in the shape of Seru Rabeni (from Leeds), Quentin D'Aram de Valada (Stade Toulousain), Sefulu Gaugau (Racing) and Manoel Dall'Igna (Montpellier).

Finally, Stade Francais have been unusually restrained in the transfer market, especially given the arrival of new head coach Michael Cheika. Three more Argentines have arrived to bolster their Puma enclave, with the only other signing being Montauban's Georgian prop Goderzi Shvelidze. By contrast, the club has allowed eight players to depart as it seeks to trim its costs.

SU Agen (promoted from ProD2)
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Valentin Courrent	27	Fly-half	Biarritz	French
Mosese Moala	29	Prop	Biarritz	Tongan
Brice Mach	23	Hooker	Montauban	French
Beka Sheklashvili	23	Prop	Montauban	Georgian
Manu Ahotaeiloa	24	Centre	Stade Toulousain	Tongan
Miguel Avramovic	28	Centre	Pampas XV	Argentine
Kevin Swiryn	26	Winger	Old Puget Sound Beach	American
Karim Kouider	24	Prop	Pau	French
Florent Cazeaux	28	Prop	Mont-de-Marsan	French
Maxime Machenaud	21	Scrum-half	Union Bordeaux-Bègles	French
Osea Kolinisau	24	Winger		Fijian
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Yoann Huget	22	Wing	Bayonne	French
Henry Broncan	-	Sports manager	SCA Albi	French
Anton Peikrishvili	22	Prop	Castres	Georgian
Sofiane Guitoune	21	Full-back	SCA Albi	French
Romain Sola	22	Fly-half	SCA Albi	French
Daniel du Plessis	27	Centre	-	South African
Francois Gelez	31	Scrum-half	Retired	French
Thomas Synaeghel	23	Prop	Dax	French
Max Carabignac	23	Scrum-half	SCA Albi	French
Agustin Lopresti	35	Prop	Retired	Argentine

 

Bayonne				Bayonne squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Sebastien Fauqué	32	Fly-half	Toulon	French
Benjamin Boyet	30	Fly-half	Bourgoin	French
Troy Flavell	33	Flanker	Mitsubishi Dynaboars	New Zealand
Abdelatif Boutaty	27	Flanker	Montauban	Moroccan
Julien Audy	26	Scrum-half	Montauban	French
Thomas Lièvremont	-	Forwards coach	Dax	French
Yohan Huget	22	Wing	SU Agen	French
Clément Baiocco	30	Prop	Racing-Métro 92	French
Joe Pietersen	25	Full back	Stormers	South African
Cameron Treloar	29	Flanker	Prato	Australian
Garth Ziegler	24	Flanker	Venezia Mestre Rugby	Australian
Tonga Lea'aetoa	33	Prop	Toulon	Tongan
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Benjamin Fall	20	Winger	Racing-Métro 92	French
Jean-Philippe Coyola		Coach	Dax	French
Filimone Bolavucu	29	Winger	Dax	Fijian
Jacques Deen	32	Flanker	Dax	South African
Mickeara Tewhata	33	Lock	Dax	New Zealand
Mickael Lopez	23	Scrum-half	Dax	French
Vincent Inigo	27	Centre	Castres	French
Salvatore Perugini	32	Prop	Aironi	Italian
Bernard Pierre	21	Fly-half	Castres	French
Manny Edmonds	33	Fly-half	Retired	Australian
Rodney Blake	27	Prop	Melbourne Rebels	Australian
Benat Arrayet	30	Fly-half/Scrum-half	Mont-de-Marsan	French

Biarritz Olympique				Biarritz squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Erik Lund	30	Flanker	Leeds	Norwegian
Sylvain Marconnet	34	Prop	Stade Francais	French
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Karmichael Hunt	23	Wing	-	Australian
Valentin Courrent	27	Fly-half	SU Agen	French
Mosese Moala	29	Prop	SU Agen	Tongan
Rémi Hughes	24	Prop	Dax	French
Nicolas Brusque	33	Full-back	Retired	French

 

Bourgoin				Bourgoin squad page
In	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Alex Tulou	23	Flanker	Wellington Hurricanes	Samoan
Sylver Tian	28	Full-back	Oyonnax	French
Mickael Campeggia	26	Scrum-half	Oyonnax	French
Ruuan du Preez	26	Prop	Wildeklawer Griquas	South African
Jordan Merle	22	Hooker	Oyonnax (back from loan)	French
Nemani Nadolo	22	Winger	NSW Warratahs	Fijian
Julian Florini	28	Prop	Mont-de-Marsan	French
Brando Va'aulu	23	Winger	Queensland Reds	Australian
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Jean-Philippe Genevois	23	Hooker	Toulon	French
Karena Wihongi	30	Prop	Toulon	French
Benjamin Boyet	30	Fly-half	Bayonne	French
Sylvain Nicolas	22	Flanker	Stade Toulousain	French
Albert Vulivuli	24	Winger	Racing-Métro 92	Fijian
Pablo Cardinali	33	Prop	Brive	Argentine
John Senio	27	Scrum-half	Grenoble	Samoan

Brive				Brive squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Julien Ledevedec	23	Lock	Stade Toulousain	French
Régis Lespinas	25	Fly-half	Montauban	French
Mathieu Belie	22	Fly-half	Stade Toulousain	French
Pablo Cardinali	33	Prop	Bourgoin	Argentine
Julien Caminati	24	Full-back	Nice	French
Benoit Cabello	30	Hooker	Clermont Auvergne	French
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Riki Flutey	30	Centre	London Wasps	English
Andy Goode	29	Fly-half	Worcester Warriors	English
Steve Thompson	31	Hooker	Leeds	English
Horacio Agulla	25	Wing	Leicester Tigers	Argentine
Christian Short	30	Lock	Lyon OU	Irish
Arnaud Pic	24	Scrum-half	Oyonnax	French
Scott Zimmerman	29	Prop	Racing-Métro 92	South African

 

Castres Olympique				Castres squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Sérémaia Bai	31	Wing/Fly-half	Clermont Auvergne	Fijian
Anton Peikrishvili	22	Prop	SU Agen	Georgian
Sinoti Sinoti	25	Winger	Toulon	Fijian
Benjamin Kayser	25	Hooker	Stade Francais	French
Vincent Inigo	27	Centre	Bayonne	French
Romain Martial	25	Centre	RC Narbonne	French
Jannie Bornman	29	Lock	Dax	South African
Bernard Pierre	21	Fly-half	Bayonne	French
Jamal Fakir	28	Full-back	Catalan Dragons	French
Gambo Adamou	24	Flanker	Oyonnax	Cameroonian
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Yohan Rayssac	22	Prop	Colomiers	French
Marc-Antoine Rallier	21	Hooker	Colomiers	French
Adrien Foucras	22	Back row	Colomiers	French
Mathieu Bourret	25	Winger	Dax	French
Romain Boscus	22	Fly-half	Oyonnax	French

Clermont Auvergne				Clermont squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Ti'i Paulo	27	Hooker	Crusaders	New Zealand
Kini Murimurivalu	21	Winger	(Espoirs)	Fijian
Franck Azema	40	Backs coach	Perpignan	French
Sione Lauaki	28	Number eight	Waikato Chiefs	New Zealand
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Sérémaia Bai	31	Wing/Fly-half	Castres	Fijian
Christophe Samson	26	Lock	Toulon	French
Benoit Cabello	30	Hooker	Brive	French

 

La Rochelle (Promoted from ProD2)
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Seru Rabeni	31	Centre	Leeds	Fijian
Quentin D'Aram de Valada	23	Back row	Stade Toulousain	French
Sefulu Gaugau	30	Centre	Racing-Métro 92	Samoan
Manoel Dall'Igna	25	Winger	Montpellier	French
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Mathieu de Pauw	25	Flanker	FC Auch Gers	Fijian

Montpellier				Montpellier squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Giorgi Jgenti	24	Prop	Oyonnax	Georgian
Aliki Fakate	24	Lock	Lyon OU	French
Raphael Lagarde	21	Fly-half	Union Bordeaux-Bègles	French
Timoci Nagusa	22	Winger	Ulster	Fijian
Eric Béchu	-	Forwards coach	SCA Albi	French
Sebastien Chobet	28	Prop	Perpignan	French
Santiago Fernandez	24	Fly-half	Pampas XV	Argentine
Alipate Seta Tuilevuka	29	Fly-half		American
Fabien Galthié	41	Head coach	-	French
Goncalo Uva	25	Lock	GD Direito	Portuguese
Adrien Pratmarty	22	Winger	Montpellier (espoirs)	French
Robin Solana	23	Full-back	Montpellier (espoirs)	French
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Bruce Douglas	30	Prop	Worcester Warriors	Scottish
Olivier Sarraméa	35	Full-back	Retiring	French
Ollie Smith	27	Centre	Harlequins	English
Fédérico Todeschini	34	Fly-half	Retired	Argentine
Manoel Dall'Igna	25	Winger	La Rochelle	French
Philemon Toleafoa	28	Prop	Lyon OU	Samoan
Alistair Campbell	30	Lock	Melbourne Rebels	Australian
Thierry Brana	23	Winger	Toulon	French

Perpignan				Perpignan squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Kevin Boulogne	23	Scrum-half	SCA Albi	French
Julien Fritz	20	Centre	Lyon OU	French
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Steve Meyer	26	Fly-half	Natal Sharks	South African
Franck Azema	40	Backs coach	Clermont Auvergne	French
Nicolas Durand	27	Scrum-half	Racing-Métro 92	French
Sebastien Chobet	28	Prop	Montpellier	French
Christophe Manas	34	Winger	New backs coach	French

Racing-Métro 92				Racing-Métro squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Benjamin Fall	20	Winger	Bayonne	French
Mirco Bergamasco	27	Winger	Stade Francais	Italian
Julien Brugnaut	28	Prop	Munster	French
Benjamin Sa	30	Prop	Montauban	New Zealand
Karim Ghezal	28	Lock	Montauban	French
Antoine Battut	26	Flanker	Montauban	French
Nicolas Durand	27	Scrum-half	Perpignan	French
Albert Vulivuli	24	Winger	Bourgoin	Fijian
Juan Martin Hernández	27	Fly-half	Natal Sharks	Argentine
Scott Zimmerman	29	Prop	Brive	South African
Grégory Arganese	27	Hooker	Montauban	French
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Nic Berry	26	Scrum-half	London Wasps	Australian
Brent Ward	30	Full-back	Auckland	New Zealand
Clément Baiocco	30	Prop	Bayonne	France
Olivier Diomandé	36	Hooker	Retired	French
Sefulu Gaugau	30	Centre	La Rochelle	Samoan
Craig Smith	31	Prop	Dax	Scottish
Mehdi Merabet	25	Prop	Toulon	French