Investigated: Stade Toulousain's Bayonne- bound scrum-half Byron Kelleher Photo: Eoin Mundow/Cleva Media

Top 14 may be coming to the end of  a two-week break but ambitious Bayonne have rarely been out of the headlines of late, and all for the wrong reasons.

The Basque side has been performing well on the pitch and up until two weeks ago it appeared to be mirroring that with some shrewd off-field manoeuvres too.

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Former France coach Bernard Laporte was brought on board to oversee player recruitment and some big-name signings such as former All Blacks Byron Kelleher and Sione Lauaki were both rumoured to have agreed deals. South Africa's World Cup winning coach was also reported to be in negotiations with the club.

But the past 10 days has seen an unseemly power struggle overspill into the public domain with Laporte walking out, along with main sponsor Alain Afflelou, after a breakdown in trust with club chairman Francis Salagoity.

Laporte claimed Salagoity was refusing to give up control of the club and walked out telling the Sud-Ouest newspaper: "I don't want to work with someone who changes his mind".

The former French Secretary of State for Sport added: "I came here to help out, but under these conditions I'm no longer interested."

The loss of Laporte is undoubtedly a major, as well as being destabilising, but it is perhaps the departure of main sponsor Afflelou which will set alarm bells ringing at the Basque club.

It has clearly worried the city's Mayor Jean Grenet, who felt moved to issue a public statement openly voicing concern at the double departures.

Salagoity is publicly standing firm and has called an extraordinary general meeting on Sunday in the hope of strengthening his own position. "I will go to the shareholders. Their decision will be respected," he said.

Laporte has said he would be willing to return to the club - along with Afflelou - but only on condition that Salagoity steps down.

But as things stand Lapporte's departure has now cast doubts over the previously agreed deals with Lauaki and Kelleher, the latter of which had reportedly signed a five-year-contract with the club. Kelleher is already 34 but the latter two years of that contract were for him to act in a mentoring and recruitment capacity.

It seems, however, that he was keen to get started early on that part of his deal - be it with or without Laporte's approval - and the former All Black could be in hot water after reports emerged claiming he had been approaching former New Zealand colleagues to try and tempt them over to France.

That in itself is not such a problem, but the reports also claimed that Kelleher had told the players not to involve their own agents as that would boost salaries. According to the New Zealand Herald Kelleher had been in recent contact with Sitveni Sivivatu and Neemia Tialata.

Not only did that go down like a lead balloon with the individual agents - once they found out - it has also raised eyebrows in France where Kelleher is not a licensed player agent. The French association of player agents has already said it wants to investigate as this seems set to run for a while yet. Anthony Marino, chairman of the commission of agents affiliated to the FFR, confirmed Kelleher's role would be investigated following a specially convened meeting on Tuesday.

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Elsewhere in France, the transfer season continues unabated with Sale Sharks' Welsh international prop Eifion Lewis-Roberts becoming the latest player to sign for cash-rich Toulon.

Lewis-Roberts will be teaming up again with former Sharks boss Philippe Saint-André, and he follows the club's recent captures of Matt Giteau, Gavin Henson and Alexis Palisson, among others.

His move is also the latest in a growing Welsh exodus across the Channel, with James Hook and Lee Byrne having also signed to play in France next season.

Lewis-Roberts is currently recovering from knee surgery and has one solitary Welsh cap to his name. At 21 stone he is the heaviest player in the Aviva Premiership, being known to fans and players as 'The Fridge'.

He could yet be joined at Toulon by former Sale boss Kingsley Jones, who is mulling over an offer to move to France after leaving the Sharks last month.

Clermont Auvergne have signed 24-year-old Samoan George Pisi as emergency cover for injured centre Gavin Williams - who will miss the rest of the season. Pisi, who previously played for Auckland Blues, will stay with Clermont until the end of the current season before moving on to join English club side Northampton Saints.

Clermont are also reportedly interested in Scottish international Nathan Hines. The 34-year-old is currently with Irish side Leinster but has previously played in France with Perpignan.

One player set to leave Clermont in the summer is veteran Argentine hooker Mario Ledesma, with the 37-year-old tipped to take on a coaching role with Stade Francais.

SU Agen, meanwhile, have signed Montpellier's Marc Giraud for 2011/12 after the 25-year-old agreed a two-year deal plus the option of a further year.

Castres have confirmed several new arrivals and contract extensions as their squad for next season continues to take shape. Scottish international Max Evans is one of six new arrivals, with the others being prop Saimone Taumoepeau (from Toulon), hooker Brice Mach (from SU Agen), scrum-half Thierry Lacrampe (from Tarbes), fly-half Rémy Tales (from La Rochelle) and young centre Rémy Lamerat (from Stade Toulousain).

Players who have agreed contract extensions include Ibrahim Diarra, Matthias Rolland, Yannick Caballero, Michael Coetzee, Mathieu Bonello, Romain Cabannes and Marc Andreu.

Top 14 transfers for 2011/12

Finally, Barcelona and Perpignan have released a short animated film to try and help draw in supporters for the Heineken Cup quarter-final against Toulon. The film shows Barcelona players performing the Haka and is part of the a drive to broaden the Perpignan fan base.

Perpignan will play Toulon in Barcelona on April 10th, the first such time top level French or Heineken Cup rugby will be played in the city. The match is being hosted at the former Olympic stadium in Monjuic.

Perpignan president Paul Goze said gate receipts alone from the 55,000 capacity stadium could earn the Catalan club up to €500,000. If the match had been played in Perpignan the Stade Aimé Giral is limited to 14,5000 capacity.

Both Perpignan and Barcelona have been allocated 20,000 tickets each for the match, with Toulon receiving 8,000.

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell said the match was important for three reasons. "First, we want to celebrate Catalan rugby, in the north as well as the south, and also celebrate the union between the two clubs. Secondly, it will also be a Catalan party, an identity which Barca and Perpignan share. Finally, we wanted it to be a family get together, that can allow children, parents and grandparents to come along and discover rugby," he explained.

For Goze the switch to Barcelona is the culmination of a 15-year dream to play rugby in the Catalan city.