|

Personal problems: Fijian
winger Napolioni Nalaga
Photo: Eoin Mundow/Cleva Media |
While the RBS Six Nations
played out its final round on Saturday there was sad news
emanating from defending French champions Clermont
Auvergne following confirmation that Napolioni Nalaga's
contract had been cancelled.
The free-scoring winger has
been an integral cog of the Clermont machine since joining
in 2006/7, racking up an impressive 51 tries in 76 league
games, as well as 10 in 14 Heineken Cup matches.
The 24-year-old has twice been
the leading try-scorer in Top 14 - in 2007/8 (with 18 in 16
games) and again in 2008/9 (with 21 in 21 games) - but
domestic problems have now led to Clermont reluctantly
terminating his playing contract.
Nalaga has not played in France
since going home to Fiji in November, with reports initially
suggesting he had nipped back to get married to his
girlfriend.
But when he failed to return it
became clear all was not right with the international winger
and it subsequently emerged that he had slipped into "deep
depression" following a car accident which left his fiancé
injured.
Clermont allowed Nalaga as much
time off as he required and initially sent messages of
support to try and ease his mental state. When they failed
to get any reply from the player, or his agent, they then
sent manager Neil McIlroy out to the island to try and gain
a clearer picture.
But at the weekend Clermont
vice-president Jean-Marc Lhermet reluctantly announced that
Nalaga's contract - which ran until 2012 - had been
cancelled, although a club statement did leave the door open
for the player to return in the future.
"Even though the club was
prepared to draw a line under this season and look forward
to the next one, the Fijian player was not able to guarantee
that he would come back next season," it read.
"The two parties therefore came
to a mutual agreement that they should terminate the
contract between Napolioni Nalaga and ASM Clermont
Auvergne," it added.
"We've reached the end of the
road," admitted Lhermet. "We did
everything to put the pieces back together again, but I
don't think there was anything we could have done to get
Napolioni back to the Auvergne. We're disappointed to have
reached this point but there was no other solution. We are
running a professional club and we need assurances," he
added.
Lhermet
confirmed Clermont would now be looking for a new singer to
join the club, having previously announced a raft of new
signings for 2011/12. Those include Benjamin Kayser, Nathan
Hines, Gerhard Vosloo, David Skrela and Lee Byrne.
Top 14
transfers for 2011/12
Could it
now be that Clermont will follow up on their previously
reported interest in signing Welsh winger Shane Williams?
Certainly Williams is keen to move to France, and the fact
his Ospreys colleague Byrne has already committed could yet
prove a persuasive factor.
Meanwhile, it seems that fellow Welsh international Gavin
Henson is likely to be looking for a new club next
season after his short-term deal with Toulon has
failed to take off.
Henson
has yet to play a match for the Cote d'Azur side and time is
fast running out for the Welsh and British Lions
international. There are just five games to go in the
regulation Top 14 season, although that could be extended by
two if Toulon - currently seventh - make the end-of-season
play-offs and progress to the final.
Henson
has at least started training after a lingering calf injury,
but Toulon boss Philippe Saint-André admitted that the
payers' lack of match fitness would hinder his chances.
"He
needs to know the system and everything so I am not sure
when he will play," Saint-André told the BBC. "He's
serious, he's very professional and he's training very hard.
He just needs to be free of injury to be on the pitch and
that is the important thing for him.
"He has
not had too much game time in the last two years so he needs
game time. He was injured for the last two months," added
the Toulon head coach.
It
always seemed like a gamble for Toulon to sign Henson, but
they were hoping his desire to reclaim his Welsh shirt could
prove the spur for a series of explosive performances.
However, they signed him with a view to covering for Jonny
Wilkinson while the England fly-half was away for two months
on international duty, and yet Henson failed to make a
single appearance during that time.
Reports
in France suggested his short-term deal was instigated by
Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal rather than Saint-André, and
the head coach wasn't exactly purring with enthusiasm when
asked if Henson would still be at the club next season. "We
will see," was his diplomatic reply.
Toulon
have signed Wallaby international Matt Giteau for next
season, among others, since Henson has arrived.
Finally,
RC Narbonne registered a potentially crucial away win
at basement club Saint-Etienne to ease their
relegation fears in ProD2 on Sunday.
The
visitors had to rally from 9-0 down after 41 minutes after
three Julien Baron penalties raised Saint-Etienne hopes of
only a second league win of the season, with the home team's
hopes aided by a fifth yellow card of the season for
Narbonne prop Jérémy Castex.
But Narbonne fought
back to claim the victory after two penalties in reply from
Delkeith Pottas and a 55th-minute try from Tongan inside centre
Karne Kaufana.
That put
Narbonne 11-9 ahead, but Baron's fourth penalty success
briefly put Saint-Etienne back in the lead after 69 minutes,
only for Sébastien Regy to reply in kind two minutes later
to seal Narbonne's win.
The
victory only lifted them one position - from 13th to 12th -
but it saw them move eight points clear of the drop-zone as
they won their game in hand.