By JAMES HARRINGTON
FRENCH COLUMN

Jeroboams of champagne all round at Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) headquarters earlier this week, after its TV rights tender landed a near-€700million jackpot.
In early April, the organisers of the top two men’s professional rugby divisions in France – the Top 14 and ProD2 – called for bids for TV rights for broadcast rights in France for four seasons from 2027-28.
The deadline for bids was this past Tuesday, and the LNR announced the same evening that long-term TV partner Canal Plus had successfully secured all four available lots for a total €696.8mill...