Clermont bound: All Blacks winger Sitiveni Sivivatu Photo: Eoin Mundow/Cleva Media

France, it seems, will be awash as never before with some of rugby's biggest stars in 2011/12 as more and more stellar arrivals get confirmed.

Among the latest internationals to sign with Top 14 clubs are Australia's Matt Giteau (to Toulon), Scotland's Max Evans (to Castres), and Wales trio Lee Byrne (to Clermont Auvergne), Mike Phillips (to Bayonne) and James Hook (to Perpignan).

Top 14 League Table 2010/11

More transfers are bound to follow in the days, weeks and months to come - with a raft of southern hemisphere players expected to flock to France - and we'll keep you bang up to date with all developments at frenchrugbyclub.com.

Other confirmed transfers include internationals Sébastien Tillous-Borde (Montpellier to Toulon), Alexis Palisson (Brive to Toulon), David Skrela (Stade Toulousain to Clermont) and Benjamin Kayser (Castres to Clermont).

All Blacks winger Sitiveni Sivivatu (pictured) has also confirmed his arrival in France, with the 43-times capped international winger joining defending champions Clermont Auvergne on a two-year deal. He has been followed to France by fellow All Blacks Joe Rokocoko and Neemia Tialata (who have both signed for Bayonne), while Luke Fitzgerald has signed for recently crowned French champions Stade Toulousain.

Toulon have confirmed their taste for rugby league converts by signing Sonny Bill Williams' former team-mate Willie Mason, as well as bringing former Kangaroo Luke Rooney back to the Cote d'Azur.

Also included in the list below are players who have been signed, either as mid-season transfers or as "medical jokers" during 2010/11. They have been denoted with an asterix (*).

So far confirmed...

SU Agen
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Dewald Senekal *	30	Back row	Toulon	South Africa
Martin Scelzo	35	Prop	Clermont Auvergne	Argentina
Sylver Tian *	30	Full-back	Bourgoin	Ivory Coast
Hendro Scholtz *	31	Back row	Free State Cheetahs	South Africa
Marc Giraud	25	Back row	Montpellier	France
Pat O'Connor	26	Lock	Waratahs	Australia
John Schwalger	27	Prop	Hurricanes	New Zealand
Jean-Francois Coux	30	Wing	Bourgoin	France
Jonathan Garcia	26	Prop	La Rochelle	France
Julien Janaudy	21	Hooker	Bourgoin	France
Juan-Manuel Leguizamon	27	Back row	SU Agen (tbc)	Argentina
Andrew Hore	33	Hooker	Hurricanes (tbc)	New Zealand
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Brice Mach	25	Hooker	Castres	France
Florent Cazeaux	29	Winger	Carcassonne	France

 

Bayonne				Bayonne squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Mike Phillips	28	Scrum-half	Ospreys	Wales
Joe Rokocoko	28	Winger	Blues	New Zealand
Sione Lauaki	29	Back row	Bayonne	New Zealand
Marvin O'Connor	19	Winger	Grenoble	France
Cédric Heymans	32	Wing/Full-back	Stade Toulousain	France
Neemia Tialata	28	Prop	Hurricanes	New Zealand
Mark Chisholm	29	Lock	ACT Brumbies	Australia
Vitolio Manukula	26	Prop	Aurillac	France
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Rémy Martin	31	Back row	Montpellier	France
Ross Filipo	31	Lock	London Wasps	New Zealand
Jean-Baptiste Peyras	26	Winger	Montpellier	France
Arnaud Heguy	26	Hooker	Biarritz	France
Sébastien Fauqué	34	Fly-half	Bayonne	France

 

Biarritz Olympique				Biarritz squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Matt Dunning	32	Prop	Western Force (tbc)	Australia
Arnaud Heguy	26	Hooker	Bayonne	France
Benoit Baby	27	Full-back	Clermont Auvergne	France
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Laurent Tranier	21	Centre	Lyon OU	France
Ayoola Erinle	30	Centre	-	England
Fabien Alexandre *	25	Back row	Grenoble	France
Yann Fior	24	Wing	Brive	France
Arnaud Mignardi	24	Centre	Brive	France
Alexandre Barozzi	24	Prop	Brive	France

 

Bourgoin *RELEGATED*				Bourgoin squad page
In	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Benjamin Sore	24	Prop	SCA Albi	France
Grégory Puyo	26	Centre	Pau	France
Randall Kamea	24	Winger	Otago	Fiji
Filipe Manu	25	Back row	Saint Etienne	New Zealand
Pierre Saby	27	Hooker	SCA Albi	France
Antoine Nicoud	32	Scrum-half	Lyon OU	France
Fabio Da Silva	25	Scrum-half	Saint-Etienne	Portugal
Thomas Vervoort	24	Lock	SCA Albi	France
Christophe André	25	Flanker	Tarbes	France
Franck Montanella	28	Prop	Aix-en-Provence	France
Elvis Sealai'i	32	Centre	London Irish	Samoa
Romain Sola	23	Fly-half	SCA Albi	France
Cristian Spachuk	29	Prop	Colomiers	Portugal
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Alexandre Dumoulin	21	Centre	Racing-Métro 92	France
Gaetan Germain	20	Wing	Racing-Métro 92	France
Connie Basson	29	Lock	Lyon OU	South Africa
Jean-Francois Coux	30	Wing	SU Agen	France
Julien Janaudy	21	Hooker	SU Agen	France
Alex Tulou *	23	Flanker	Montpellier	Samoa
Sylver Tian *	30	Full-back	SU Agen	Ivory Coast
Nemani Nadolo *	22	Winger	Exeter Chiefs	Fiji
Rudi Coetzee *	29	Centre	Perpignan	South Africa
Olivier Milloud	35	Prop	Stade Francais	France
Arnauld Tchougong	30	Prop	Lyon OU	Cameroon

 

Brive				Brive squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Yann Fior	24	Wing	Biarritz	France
Arnaud Mignardi	24	Centre	Biarritz	France
Alexandre Barozzi	24	Prop	Biarritz	France
Petrus Hauman	24	Back row	Aurillac	South Africa
Olivier Caisso	25	Lock	Colomiers	France
Poutasi Luafutu	23	Back row	Tasman	Australia
Virgil Lacombe	26	Hooker	Stade Toulousain	France
Shane Geraghty	24	Fly-half	Northampton Saints	England
Jacques Boussuge	25	Wing	Bath Rugby	France
Irakli Natriashvili	26	Prop	Saint-Junien	Georgia
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux	32	Hooker	Lyon OU	France
Regis Lespinas	26	Fly-half	Lyon OU	France
Luciano Orquera	29	Fly-half	Aironi	Italian
Gerhard Vosloo	31	Back row	Clermont Auvergne	South Africa
Benoit Cabello	30	Hooker	Clermont Auvergne	France
Alexis Palisson	23	Winger / Full-back	Toulon	France
Shaun Perry	32	Scrum-half	Worcester Warriors	England
Fabrice Estebanez	30	Fly-half / Centre	Racing-Métro 92	France
Damian Browne	31	Lock	Leinster	Ireland

 

Castres Olympique				Castres squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Josh Tatapu *	24	Centre	Otago	Samoa
Max Evans	27	Centre	Glasgow Warriors	Scotland
Saimone Taumoepeau	31	Prop	Toulon	New Zealand
Brice Mach	25	Hooker	SU Agen	France
Thierry Lacrampe	23	Scrum-half	Tarbes	France
Rémy Tales	26	Fly-half	La Rochelle	France
Rémy Lamerat	21	Centre	Stade Toulousain	France
Pierre-Gilles Lakafia	24	Winger	Stade Toulousain	France
Marc-Antoine Rallier	22	Hooker	Colomiers	France
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Sébastien Tillous-Borde	25	Scrum-half	Toulon	France
Carl Hoeft	36	Prop	Stade Toulousain	New Zealand
Yoan Audrin	29	Centre	Montpellier	France
Benjamin Kayser	26	Hooker	Clermont Auvergne	France
Cameron McIntyre	29	Fly-half	-	New Zealand
Josh Tatapu *	24	Centre	Exeter Chiefs	Samoa
Danie Saayman	36	Prop	Pau	South Africa

 

Clermont Auvergne				Clermont squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Benoit Cabello	30	Hooker	Brive	France
Riaan Swanepoel	25	Centre	Natal Sharks	South African
Sitiveni Sivivatu	28	Winger	Waikato Chiefs	New Zealand
Mark Bennett	18	Centre	Glasgow Warriors	Scotland
George Pisi *	24	Centre / Full-back	Auckland Blues	Samoa
Nathan Hines	35	Lock	Leinster	Scotland
Gerhard Vosloo	31	Back row	Brive	South Africa
Benjamin Kayser	26	Hooker	Castres	France
David Skrela	31	Fly-half	Stade Toulousain	France
Lee Byrne	30	Full-back	Ospreys	Wales
Regan King	30	Centre	Llanelli Scarlets	New Zealand
Daniel Kotze	23	Prop	Aurillac	South Africa
Andrei Ostrikov	23	Lock	Aurillac (tbc)	Russia
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Napolioni Nalaga	24	Winger	-	Fiji
Agustin Creevy	25	Hooker	Montpellier	Argentina
Benoit Baby	27	Full-back	Biarritz	France
Mario Ledesma	37	Hooker	Forwards Coach, Stade Francais	Argentina
Thibault Privat	32	Lock	Montpellier	France
Sione Lauaki	29	Back row	Bayonne	New Zealand
Tasesa Lavea	30	Fly-half	Sale Sharks	New Zealand
Marius Joubert	31	Centre	Natal Sharks	South Africa
Martin Scelzo	35	Prop	SU Agen	Argentina

 

La Rochelle *RELEGATED*
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Greg Goosen *	27	Full-back	Racing-Métro 92	South Africa
Benoit Lecouls	32	Prop	Stade Toulousain	France
Alfie To'oala	30	Back-row	Leeds Carnegie	Samoa
Damien Cler	27	Winger	Mont-de-Marsan	France
Sébastien Fauqué	34	Fly-half	Bayonne	France
Rodriguez Muedra	20	Fly-half	-	Argentina
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Rémi Tales	26	Fly-half	Castres	France
Romain Frou	27	Prop	Toulon	France
Jonathan Garcia	26	Prop	SU Agen	France
Thomas Combezou	24	Centre	Montpellier	France

 

Lyon OU *PROMOTED*				Lyon OU squad page
In	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Connie Basson	29	Lock	Bourgoin	South Africa
Juan-Manuel Leguizamon	27	Back row	Stade Francais	Argentina
Ricky Januarie	29	Scrum-half	Western Stormers	South Africa
Mark Van Gisbergen	33	Full-back	London Wasps	England
Laurent Tranier	21	Centre	Biarritz	France
Sisa Koyamaibole	30	Back row	Sale Sharks	Fiji
Alipathé Fatafehi	26	Wing	Saint-Etienne	Tonga
Arnauld Tchougong	30	Prop	Bourgoin	Cameroon
Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux	32	Hooker	Brive	France
Regis Lespinas	26	Fly-half	Brive	France
Arnaud Marchois	27	Lock	Stade Francais	France
Anthony Roux	27	Prop	Colomiers	France
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Antoine Nicoud	32	Scrum-half	Bourgoin	France

 

 

Montpellier				Montpellier squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Maximiliano Bustos	25	Prop	Universitario de Sante Fe	Argentina
Rémy Martin	31	Back row	Bayonne	France
Jean-Baptiste Peyras	26	Winger	Bayonne	France
Alex Tulou *	23	Flanker	Bourgoin	Samoa
Yoan Audrin	29	Centre	Castres	France
Agustin Creevy	25	Hooker	Clermont Auvergne	Argentina
Lucas Amorosino	25	Full-back / Winger	Leicester Tigers	Argentina
Clément Marienval	25	Winger	Toulon	France
Thibault Privat	32	Lock	Clermont Auvergne	France
Thomas Combezou	24	Centre	Montpellier	France
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Marc Giraud	25	Back row	SU Agen	France
Fabien Rofes	29	Hooker	Union Bordeaux-Bègles	France
Sylvain Mirande	26	Centre	Dax	France
Jean-Mathieu Alcalde	25	Winger	Dax	France

 

Perpignan				Perpignan squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
James Hook	24	Fly-half / Centre	Ospreys	Welsh
Rudi Coetzee *	29	Centre	Bourgoin	South African
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Rimas Alvarez-Kairelis ***	36	Lock	Retired	Argentina
Manny Edmonds	34	Fly-half	Retired	Australia

*** Rimas Alvarez-Kairelis has now been signed as  a "World Cup Joker", so will stay with Perpignan for the first three months of next season (2011/12)

 

Racing-Métro 92				Racing-Métro squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Josh Matavesi	20	Back	Exeter Chiefs	Fiji
Thomas Bianchin	23	Hooker	Grenoble	France
Fabrice Estebanez	30	Centre	Brive	France
Guillaume Boussés	29	Centre	Stade Francais	France
Alexandre Dumoulin	21	Centre	Bourgoin	France
Gaetan Germain	20	Wing	Bourgoin	France
Guillaume Boussés	29	Centre	Stade Francais	France
Sébastien Descons	28	Scrum-half	Pau	France
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Fabrice Culine	27	Back row	tba	France
Carlo Festuccia	30	Hooker	tba	Italy
Andrea Masi	29	Centre	Aironi	Italy
Jérôme Fillol	33	Scrum-half	Stade Francais	France
Greg Goosen *	27	Full-back	La Rochelle	South Africa
Simon Raiwalui	36	Lock	tba	Fiji
Dan Scarbrough	32	Full-back	tba	English

 

Stade Francais				Stade Francais squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Paul Warwick	30	Fly-half	Munster	Australia
Byron Kelleher	34	Scrum-half	Stade Toulousain	New Zealand
Stan Wright	32	Prop	Leinster	Cook Islands
Olivier Milloud	35	Prop	Bourgoin	France
Francisco Tetaz Chaparro	21	Prop	Pampas	Argentina
Morgan Turinui	28	Centre	Dax	Australia
Scott La Valla	22	Back row	Dublin University	America
Paul Williams	28	Utility back	Sale Sharks	Samoa
Paul Sackey	31	Winger	Toulon	England
Felipe Contepomi	33	Fly-half	Toulon	Argentina
Arthur Chollon	22	Back row	Union Bordeaux-Bègles	France
Jérôme Fillol	33	Scrum-half	Racing-Métro 92	France
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Arnaud Marchois	27	Lock	Lyon OU	France
Ignacio Miéres *	23	Fly-half	Exeter Chiefs	Argentina
Juan-Manuel Leguizamon	27	Back row	Lyon OU	Argentina
Lionel Beauxis	25	Fly-half	Stade Toulousain	France
James Haskell	26	Back row	tba	England
Ollie Phillips	28	Winger	tba	England
Mauro Bergamasco	32	Back row	tba	Italy
Hugo Southwell	30	Full-back	tba	Scotland
Noel Oelschig	31	Scrum-half	tba	South Africa
Guillaume Boussés	29	Centre	Racing-Métro 92	France

 

RC Toulon				Toulon squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Willie Mason	31	Centre	Hull KR	Australia
Romain Frou	27	Prop	La Rochelle	France
Luke Rooney	27	Full-back	Melbourne Rebels	Australia
Bakkies Botha	31	Lock	Bulls	South Africa
Steffon Armitage	25	Flanker	London Irish	England
Alexis Palisson	23	Winger / Full-back	Brive	France
Sébastien Tillous-Borde	25	Scrum-half	Toulon	France
Julian Dumora	22	Fly-half	Pau	France
Matt Giteau	28	Fly-half / inside centre	ACT Brumbies	Australia
Eifion Lewis-Roberts	30	Prop	Sale Sharks	Wales
Seva Rokobaro	33	Lock	Aix-en-Provence	Fiji
Jone Tawake	29	Back row	RC Narbonne	Fiji
David Smith	25	Winger	Western Force	Samoa
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Dewald Senekal *	30	Back row	SU Agen	South Africa
Gavin Henson *	29	Centre	tba	Wales
Mehdi Merabet	25	Prop	Oyonnax	France
Clément Marienval	25	Winger	Montpellier	France
Tom May	31	Centre	Northampton Saints	England
Saimone Taumoepeau	31	Prop	Castres	New Zealand
Felipe Contepomi	33	Fly-half	Stade Francais	Argentina
Mafileo Kefu ***	28	Centre	-	Australia
Fotunuupule Auelua	27	Number eight	Brumbies	Australia
Pierre Mignoni	34	Scrum-half	Backs coach, Toulon	France
Romain Barthélémy	21	Fly-half	SCA Albi	France
Paul Sackey	31	Winger	Stade Francais	England
Thierry Brana	24	Winger	Union Bordeaux-Bègles	France
Rudi Wulf	27	Winger	Blues	New Zealand

*** Mafileo Kefu has now been signed as  a "World Cup Joker", so will stay with Toulon for the first three months of next season (2011/12)

 

Stade Toulousain				Stade Toulousain squad page
Players Signed	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Luke Burgess	26	Scrum-half	Waratahs	Australia
Carl Hoeft	36	Prop	Castres	New Zealand
Timoci Matanavou	26	Winger	Mont-de-Marsan	Fiji
Luke McAlister	27	Fly-half/centre	Auckland Blues	New Zealand
Gurthro Steenkamp	29	Prop	Bulls	South Africa
Rupeni Caucaunibuca	30	Winger	SU Agen	Fiji
Lionel Beauxis	25	Fly-half	Stade Francais	France
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
David Skrela	31	Fly-half	Clermont Auvergne	France
Benoit Lecouls	32	Prop	Stade Toulousain	France
Byron Kelleher	34	Scrum-half	Stade Francais	New Zealand
Frédéric Michalak	28	Fly-half	Natal Sharks	France
Rémy Lamerat	21	Centre	Castres	France
Pierre-Gilles Lakafia	24	Winger	Castres	France
Cédric Heymans	32	Wing/Full-back	Bayonne	France
Virgil Lacombe	26	Hooker	Brive	France

 

Union Bordeaux-Bègles *PROMOTED*				UBB squad page
In	Age	Position	Previous club	Nationality
Fabien Rofes	29	Hooker	Montpellier	France
Thierry Brana	24	Winger	Toulon	France
Out	Age	Position	Club	Nationality
Arthur Chollon	22	Back row	Stade Francais	France