CHRIS HEWETT

It is one thing for a populist Prime Minister to ride a wave of duplicity before crashing head-first into the rocks: if a chap can’t do what he likes with his very own brand of snake oil, what’s the world coming to?
Using the Bouclier de Brennus as a skimboard? That’s just a little different. The Bouclier belongs to the whole of French rugby, surfers and non-surfers alike. If Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack are among its current custodians, they hold it under the strict terms of a one-year lease. Best look after it, just in case.
Yet the beach footage of the brilliant Toulou...