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Posted 220 days ago
LET’S NOT get carried away. Gael Fickou had a good game for Toulouse in their win over Leicester on Sunday, but was the 18-year-old’s try-scoring performance really that special? Sure, Fickou showed the presence of mind and a sharp turn of pace to pounce on a loose ball and sprint 45 metres for the only try of a disappointing game.
Posted 226 days ago
WITH THE 2012-13 Heineken Cup starting on Friday how healthy are the French clubs ahead of the opening round? Runaway Top 14 leaders Toulon play Montpellier on Sunday evening but elsewhere the best of Britain and Ireland face France’s finest.
Posted 234 days ago
IT IS a year since Lee Byrne won the last of his 46 caps for Wales, but the 32-year-old full-back hasn’t given up hope of hitting his half century this season. Currently playing some of the best rugby of his career, Byrne has helped Clermont to pole position in the Top 14 and reminded the Welsh selectors that there’s still…
Posted 241 days ago
“MICHALAK IS back” screams the headline in this week’s Midi Olympique, alongside a photograph of Toulon’s Freddie, a player for whom the word ‘mercurial’ could have been invented. Michalak played a prominent part in easing his club to their sixth consecutive win of the season last Saturday, a 33-12 defeat of Castres in which Jonny Wilkinson scored 18 of the points.
Posted 247 days ago
THEY SAY Lourdes is where you go in search of a miracle cure, but if you’re a thirty-something Englishman Toulon seems to be the place in France that has healing properties. We know all about Jonny Wilkinson, rejuvenated since he left Newcastle for the Cote d’Azur in 2009, and Simon Shaw has had a second wind since he quit Wasps for Toulon 12 months ago.
Posted 253 days ago
THE TOP 14 may be a slow-burner right now with few games of real drama but one man doing his best to light the touch paper is Virimi Vakatawa. The 20-year-old winger was in scorching form a couple of weeks back for Racing against Toulon, scoring a superb solo try proving a real handful for the opposition defence.
Posted 262 days ago
HE’S GOT the Vespa, he’s learning French and Aled Brew has even been bodyboarding in the famous Biarritz surf. Yes, the former Dragons’ wing is enjoying his new life in the Basque Country – both on and off the pitch. When Rugby World caught up with the 26-year-old, he’d just played a blinder in Biarritz’s 22-17 defeat of Top 14…
Posted 268 days ago
By Gavin Mortimer, Rugby World writer
FOR A man who two years ago was reputedly the highest paid rugby player in the world, Sebastien Chabal embarked upon the latest stage of his career at the weekend with less fanfare than he’s been used to in the past few years. The 34-year-old No 8, once of Sale Sharks and Racing Metro, made…
Posted 276 days ago
DOWN IN Perpignan Luke Charteris isn’t hard to miss. At 6ft 9in and 20st, and with that fair Celtic skin of his, he stands out a mile in the Catalan city where people tend to be shorter, stockier and slightly more bronzed. Not that the Wales lock minds the attention. “I’m loving it down here,” he tells Rugby World.
Posted 282 days ago
By Gavin Mortimer, Rugby World writer
THE OLYMPICS are over and the football season is about to get underway. But don’t worry, it’s not all depressing news on the sports front. The 2012-13 rugby season is just round the corner in the British Isles while over in France the new Top 14 campaign kicks off this weekend.
You have to feel for…
