JAMES HARRINGTON
FRENCH COLUMN
In July, The Rugby Paper reported that ‘grand’ Top 14 side Racing 92 had Sale and England fly-half George Ford in their sights, after previously being linked to his England team-mate Marcus Smith, and South Africa’s Manie Libbok.
The Ford speculation has resurfaced recently in France, with Midi Olympique apparently able to confirm reporting here that the player’s CV has found its way onto the desks of high-ups at Plessis-Robinson, as French rugby’s transfer market – and its concomitant transfer speculation mill – swings back into action after a brief hiatus.
And it looks like he won’t be the only Premiership star linked to a French club ahead of next season.
We’ve already had some transfer news. Before August was out, Racing confirmed that they had signed France prop Demba Bamba. And the only thing that seems to be absent from Joris Segonds’ widely accepted switch from Stade Francais to Bayonne on a five-year deal is an official public nod from the Basque Country club.
Rumours, meanwhile, are already circulating about a number of other players. The rumour mill for 10s is already particularly active, with the futures of Lyon’s Leo Berdeu, Racing’s Antoine Gibert, Perpignan’s Jake McIntyre and Clermont’s Jules Plisson – as well as Ford and Segonds – already the subject of increasing speculation.
Toulouse, Midol reports, are interested in Gibert’s ability to play nine or 10, as they look for long-term support for Dupont – who could feature at next year’s Olympic Games for France Sevens – and the injured Romain Ntamack. They are also, reports say, interested in Castres’ and Uruguay scrum-half Santiago Arata.
These are merely the early exchanges in the 2024-25 transfer market in France. Rumours will come and go as the weeks and months pass.
But, according to Midi Olympique, there’s a heavy British element to the CVs currently circulating the desks of French clubs, with several dozen Premiership players looking for deals on the French side of the Channel.
Other than Ford, no players have yet been mentioned by name in France. But France’s dedicated rugby paper suggested that between 60 and 80 British-based players – a sizable proportion of them with Premiership clubs – have feelers out with clubs in France.
The presence of a CV does not automatically mean an offer will follow. As well as the salary cap, French clubs have JIFF regulations to consider, which limit them to a maximum 13 non-JIFF players.
But, the paper reports, some 20 files are attracting particular attention for next season. Jack Willis, Joe and Sam Simmonds, Dan Robson, Harry Williams, Henry Arundell, Jack Nowell, Joe Marchant, Billy Searle, Jonathan Joseph – and others – may soon have company.
The third and final round of Top 14 action before the World Cup grabs all the rugby headlines in France had earlier kicked off with promoted Oyonnax entertaining champions Toulouse at Stade Charles Mathon.
For the second weekend in a row, the 2023 ProD2 champions were left to wonder what might have been, after ending up on the wrong side of a 21-27 scoreline. A missed conversion after the hooter denied them a bonus point that was the least they deserved. As it is, they finish this opening block of matches with one win and two defeats that could have been much better.
Stade Francais maintained their winning start to the Top 14 campaign – they are the only side to have won all their matches – with a far-from pretty 24-9 bonus-point win over Montpellier. But 13 league points out of a possible 15 will ensure that the World Cup break passes pleasantly enough at Stade Jean Bouin.
The ProD2’s top scorer last season, Nathaniel Hulleu, opened his Top 14 account for his new side Castres against Bayonne. It was the 2022 finalists’ first first-half try of the campaign, and just their third in the first three matches. Promising young fly-half Louis Le Brun followed in Hulleu’s footsteps and scored his first try in the French top flight late on as Castres bagged a try-scoring bonus, winning 37-0. The result leaves them on 10 points after the three-game pre-World Cup sprint.
In fact it was a day for firsts. Pau‘s World Rugby U20 Championship winner Theo Attissogbe also got his premier score in the Top 14 as they beat Lyon 40-10 at Stade du Hameau. Jack Maddocks’ second score, after the hooter, gave Pau a well-deserved try-scoring bonus.
Jordan Joseph, Thomas Laclayat – his first tries in the Top 14 after joining from Oyonnax in the off-season – and Wame Naituvi all scored twice as Racing 92 put Perpignan to the sword at La Defense Arena. The home side ran in five tries in a one-sided opening period, and added four more in the second to finish 59-10 winners.
In a tight match at Clermont, two Benjamin Urdapilleta penalties, either side of a touchline confrontation with La Rochelle coach Ronan O’Gara as a ball crossed into the technical area were the difference in a hard-fought 11-10 win. The result leaves the Champions Cup holders and last season’s losing Top 14 finalists languishing at the wrong end of the table with just one win in their pre-World Cup dash.
The Top 14’s three-round pre-World Cup block of matches rounds up tonight as Yannick Bru’s Bordeaux entertain Pierre Mignoni’s Toulon at Stade Chaban Delmas – amatch that will decide, one way or the other, the success of this short early block of games for both sides. On the final whistle of the 21st match of the season, the league breaks off until Sunday, October 29 – the day after the World Cup final.
