IN THE summer, Quade Cooper, the enigmatic, tormented Wallaby five-eighth had a very public falling-out with Robbie Deans, the Wallaby coach.
France
Top 14: Losing away from home accepted
Here’s a stat to chew on. Five clubs in the Top 14 this season have failed to score points in a match, the clubs in question being Bayonne (55-0 vs…
What next for France?
What are we going to do about France? What is France going to do about Philippe Saint-Andre? Rugby World's Gavin Mortimer offers his own assessment of Les Bleus from the…
France can build on All Blacks performance
There were times on Saturday night when France made the All Blacks look ordinary. But ten years from now the record books and the rugby websites won’t mention that fact.…
Tales wants French revenge on New Zealand
By Gavin Mortimer AS TEST debuts go, they don’t come much tougher than the one endured by Remi Tales. The French fly-half replaced Frederic Michalak 64 minutes into the second…
Is there an identity crisis for France?
The editorial in Monday’s edition of Midi Olympique pulled no punches. The national team is beset by a “gloomy lassitude”, declared the paper, brought on by a year in which…
Montpellier’s Pelissie gears up for Heineken Cup
MONTPELLIER COACH Fabien Galthié has been talking up Treviso this week, warning his players the Italians will pose a real threat when the two sides meet on Saturday in the…
Joe Worsley enjoying French lessons at Bordeaux-Begles
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…
Heineken Cup crisis: Business as usual for our Gallic cousins
HEINEKEN CUP hell may have broken loose in the British Isles but on the south side of the English Channel Tuesday’s news of the tournament’s likely demise has caused barely…
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…