More and more professional players in France are unemployed as they fail to earn contracts from Top 14 clubs. We look at the growing problem…
Gavin Mortimer
Who will take over at Toulon? The plot thickens…
There’s rarely a dull day at Toulon, even during the off-season, and this summer a bumper crop of colourful stories has emanated from the Cote d’Azur. At the end of…
Part 2: French Top 14 comings and goings – Lyon to Toulouse
Lyon The runaway winners of the ProD2, Lyon lost just five of their 30 league matches and finished 31 points clear of second-placed Bayonne. It was a similar story in…
Part 1: Top 14 comings and goings – Bayonne to La Rochelle
As the Top 14 clubs start returning this week from their summer holidays to begin preparing for the new season next month, Gavin Mortimer runs an eye over the comings…
Summer tours: France see a chink of light against Argentina
The predictions of doom and gloom were premature. Far from a Tour of Hell, France’s two-Test series in Argentina ended all-square and offers Les Bleus some hope for next season.…
Top 14: Leigh Halfpenny in an amazing comeback for Toulon
Sport can be cruel. And don’t Clermont know it. The club who’ve won just one of their 12 Top 14 finals were beaten in the dying minutes of extra-time in…
France: Rugby the most popular team sport… for now
A nationwide poll at the start of this month reported that rugby is now the most popular team sport in France. Some 39% of the population preferred rugby to football’s…
France: Team of the season in the Top 14
Each Monday Midi Olympique prints its standout XV selected from the weekend’s Top 14 matches. It’s a bit of fun but also an indication – albeit subjective – of who’s…
Financial penalties in the ProD2 send shockwaves around French rugby
It’s not been the most auspicious season for the ProD2 in France. For a start, Lyon ran away with the title from day one, clinching the crown on April 1…
‘Tour of Hell’ lies ahead for France
France coach Guy Noves has to take on Argentina with a weakened squad