Four teams are all battling to avoid the drop from the French top flight as the season reaches its climax – here's the lowdown…
Top 14
Big plans for the future of French Top 14
The great and the good of French rugby gathered last Thursday in a Bordeaux hotel for their General Assembly. What Midi Olympique described as “the Cardinals of the Oval”, had…
Top 14: A TV bidding farce and its benefits
There really isn’t such a thing as a dull day in French rugby. Take last week. On Tuesday the LNR announced with a fanfare that they had agreed a record…
The ten biggest flops in the Top 14
Does less-than-lucky Bryan Habana make our list of top ten French flops?
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…
The toll of rugby on Johnny Sexton
The fly-half looks unlikely to play against the All Blacks on Sunday. Racing will worry too
A French guide to the Heineken Cup
By Gavin Mortimer Let’s for a while forget the future and enjoy the present. Yes, the Heineken Cup is upon us and though it may well be the last of…
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…
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.