JAMES HARRINGTON
FRENCH COLUMN

A "heat dome" settled over France last weekend to send temperatures soaring as the new Top 14 season’s three-match pre-World Cup faux-depart kicked off.
The mercury is set to nudge 40C during the day in the south of the country over the next few days, while it is expected not to dip below 20C overnight until the middle of the new week.
The soaring temperatures started taking effect on Thursday. By Saturday, a swathe of 28 departments from the southwest of the country to the northeast were on ‘orange’ weather alert – the second highest warning level – because...