FOR the first time this century, a quartet of Test veterans will be missing when the Top 14 come under starter’s orders next month. Julien Bonnaire, Jamie Cudmore, Thibaut Privat and Chris Masoe have all come to the end of very long roads.
Bonnaire, whose 75-Test career stretches back to 2004, will be 39 in September as will Cudmore, the Canadian bear of a lock whose collection of 40 cards reflects a penchant for dispensing his own brand of rough justice. Masoe, the All Black who has spent the last nine years in France, turned 38 in May, Privat in February,
Their departure coincides w...