PETER JACKSON

THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW
At close of business on Friday, 40 Test players boasting a collective stack of 1,368 caps had been left to perform one last ritual, that of hanging up their boots.
Two would have done so with the utmost reluctance, a pair of French veterans denied a seven-day stay of execution to bow out on a stage worthy of their careers. Instead Louis Picamoles and Francois Trih-Duc had no option but to ride off into the sunset far from the madding crowd of Paris on Top 14 final day.
Bordeaux’s semi-final stumble at Montpellier destroyed any hope of a fairyt...