JAMES HARRINGTON
FRENCH COLUMN

We always knew the World Cup would play havoc with the Top 14 season – as soon as the 2023/2024 schedule came out last July, all eyes focused on those weekends when club and country commitments clashed.
These weekends are known as doublons in French – or duplicates. There are nine of them in total across the season, more than a third of the campaign, including fallow weekends in the Six Nations, when France coach Fabien Galthie has been permitted to keep 19 players ‘safe’ from Top 14 action.
Thanks to Galthie’s selection choices, four French clubs have taken...