DAVID BARNES

No-one felt the pain of a doomed season for champions Clermont more than Nick Abendanon, their charismatic English full-back or winger.
Others, of course, felt the shame of betraying their status so utterly they finished ninth in the Top 14 with just a single win on their travels.
But, for Abendanon, there was constant physical discomfort to endure along with the alarming fall from grace he shared with his team-mates.
From the moment, in fact, that he was brutally and avoidably assaulted by former All Black Ma’ Nonu, of Toulon, belowright, in only the second game of t...