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Posted 359 days ago
AS THE Home Nations gear up for Down Under, across the Channel in France the Top 14 is coming to the boil, writes Gavin Mortimer.
The French domestic season is a bit like Simon Shaw’s career in that one wonders if it will ever end. Ten months after the 2011-12 campaign began we have four clubs left standing.
Saturday’s semi-final pits the…
Posted 366 days ago
IN FRANCE they call them ‘les barrages’, in English we’d call them ‘play-offs’; perhaps the best description is the Top 14 quarter-finals, which is in effect what unfolds on Saturday when Castres host Montpellier and Racing Metro visit Toulon, writes Gavin Mortimer.
At stake is a semi-final place the following weekend with the winner of the first tie facing Toulouse and…
Posted 371 days ago
A RATHER drab and uninspiring final with Biarritz able to ensure their Heineken Cup qualification thanks to the boot of Dimitri Yachvili in wet conditions at the Stoop. They were fortunate, however, that Toulon couldn’t get the ball to Jonny Wilkinson in the final minutes or he could have slotted another of
Posted 379 days ago
By Gavin Mortimer
IS THIS going to be the season when Toulon finally climb back to the summit of French rugby? The last time they were there was exactly twenty years ago when a side containing the likes of Aubin Hueber and Yann Delaigue defeated Biarritz 19-14 to win the Bouclier de Brennus. Many hard years followed that triumph until Mourad…
Posted 782 days ago
On a trip to Toulon, we decided to pick the brains of some of the French team’s star names on ways that you could improve your game. We asked Tom May for his top fitness tip, one that could be used by players at any level of the game. And here it is…
Posted 785 days ago
Former Springbok Joe van Niekerk has proved a big hit with Heineken Cup quarter-finalists Toulon – but what’s life really like at the star-studded club in the South of France? We paid a visit to Toulon’s training HQ to ask the back-rower about both the good and the bad at the club…
Posted 866 days ago
The race for the prestigious eight Heineken Cup quarter-final places is entering the final straight – but 11 of the 24 teams in the 2010 / 2011 tournament will still be in elite European club rugby action come April.
While the six Pool winners and two best Pool runners-up will prolong their Heineken Cup adventure into the knock-out stages, the next…
Posted 905 days ago
Famed for the accuracy of his left boot, Wilko has held the world on his shoulders ever since that cup winning kick in 2003. Rugby World caught up with him in Toulon to chat about being scared of practical jokes, Room 101 and his best moments.
RUGBY WORLD: What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen or heard on the pitch?
JONNY WILKINSON: …
Posted 908 days ago
Rugby World caught up with the famous All Black while he was still at Newcastle Falcons to talk about pre-season training, the ‘pain train’, and living the ‘Good Life’ after rugby.
RUGBY WORLD: So how has pre-season training gone?
CARL HAYMAN: We trained with the local American Football and basketball teams. It’s good to keep things varied. The American Football guys…
Posted 957 days ago
Jonny Wilkinson made sure Toulon made a winning Heineken Cup debut – he created their try and kicked the remaining 14 points in their 19-14 home win over Ospreys – and the established England No 10 and now the French club’s new talisman and fans favourite is preparing to spearhead Toulon’s challenge in the lion’s den of former double champions…
