FRENCH COLUMN
DAVID BARNES

Richard Cockerill, Nick Abendanon and David Strettle, rivals for so long in different colours in their homeland, will give a distinctly English flavour to the final of the Top 14 in Paris.
Cockerill in his improbable role as the coach who came from nowhere to hoist Toulon, a team he barely knew, to the verge of a great title.
Abendanon and Strettle, the quicksilver backs with, respectively, Bath and Saracens, as the likely lads with the chance of laying the ghost of failures past with Clermont.
Yes, the showpiece at the Stade de France next Sunday has many fasci...