IT'S NOT just British and Irish players beating a path to France to further their rugby education. Scan the staff lists of the French clubs and you’ll spot more than…
Top 14
Former players offer Premiership and Pro12 predictions
BOTH THE Aviva Premiership and RaboDirect Pro12 are about to burst back in to life this Friday. Newcastle and Bath kick off the Premiership and Scarlets and Leinster kick of…
French sides are nothing to fear, says Paul Sackey
FORMER ENGLAND wing Paul Sackey has backed the exclusion of France-based players from the national side on his return to the Aviva Premiership.
Top 14: Marcel Garvey on the Castres way
LAST SEASON was a funny old one for Marcel Garvey. Seventeen outings for Castres in the Top 14 and just one try, and that in the final game of the…
Top 14: Hook ready to lead Perpignan to new heights
TIMES, THEY are a-changin’ at Perpignan. Who would have thought just a few years ago that arguably the most parochial of French clubs would have a Welshman for a captain?…
Top 14: Toulouse coach going the way of the Gunners
By Gavin Mortimer IF THERE’S one man who knows how Arsene Wenger is feeling this week it’s Toulouse coach Guy Noves. Like the Arsenal manager, Noves ended Saturday afternoon with…
Beware the return of Juan Smith
By Alan Dymock AS RUGBY becomes more competitive, more sponsor-driven, more about the trophies than the humans involved, there is a chance that some folk could get chewed up and…
Wealthy owners like Jacky Lorenzetti and their late forays into the transfer market
QUEUEING EARLY at rugby’s buffet does not appear to be a requirement for the millionaire owners of some teams, with the wealthy able to place late orders for personnel they…
Mike Phillips doesn’t make the Top 14 cut… for now
IN THE August edition of Rugby World, British and Irish Lions scrum-half Mike Phillips spoke of his role for Bayonne in the French Top 14. After a tough year where…
French Top 14: New faces for the new season
OSTENTATIOUS OR talent-filled, either way, it is hard to deny that the Top 14 will have an impressive array of international stars next season. Indeed there is something for everyone…