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Tag: Bayonne

Roll up, roll up: Crowds are rising to record levels

10 November 2024 0 comments

CROWD numbers in French rugby’s top two professional leagues have risen to record levels, according to figures released from the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). […]

France Rugby strongly oppose the implementation of the 20-minute red card

14 October 2024 0 comments

Following World Rugby’s announcement to propose the global trial of new laws that will be reviewed by the Council, FFR (French Rugby Union), LNR (National […]

Bayonne centre Manu Tuilagi to miss start of season

1 September 2024 0 comments

Manu Tuilagi will miss the start of the upcoming Top 14 season for new club Bayonne after breaking his hand.

Northampton’s brilliant trio are leaving the club in the best hands

9 June 2024 0 comments

BRENDAN GALLAGHER You don’t always get what you deserve in sport, not least when it comes to the send-off you dream of, but Courtney Lawes, […]

Sanderson: We’ll come back better

9 June 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES It’s all over: Sale fly-half George Ford during last week’s defeat PICTURES: Getty Images Alex Sanderson is an ebullient, upbeat character who […]

Smith has final say for Saints

2 June 2024 0 comments

By BRENDAN GALLAGHER Northampton Saints….. 22pts Tries: Odendaal 19 Conversions: Smith 20 Penalties: Smith 28, 31, 40, 62, 70 Saracens ………………………20pts Tries: Lewington 54, Cinti […]

Gopperth misses out on top flight

2 June 2024 0 comments

FRENCH COLUMN By JAMES HARRINGTON Jimmy Gopperth won’t be the oldest-ever player to feature in the Top 14 next season after all, after his Provence […]

It’s away day delight as Sharks bite Sarries

19 May 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK Saracens ……………………… 10pts Tries: Riccioni 66 Conversions: Farrell 67 Penalties: Farrell 26 Sale ……………………………….20pts Tries: Roebuck 23, R du Preez 51 Conversions: […]

Dramatic finale puts Brive into play-offs

19 May 2024 0 comments

By JAMES HARRINGTON The ProD2 supplied a final glorious regular-season round for the ages in a perfectly timed reminder to broadcasters interested in bidding for […]

Game in England is good, says Ford

12 May 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES George Ford feels English rugby is on the up after a testing couple of years on and off the field and has […]

James at his best as Sale keep in the race

12 May 2024 0 comments

By BRENDAN GALLAGHER Sale ……………………………….31pts Tries: Warr 8, Taylor 13, James 34, O’Flaherty 43 Conversions: Ford 9, 14, 35, 44 Penalties: Ford 57 Leicester …………………….. […]

I may sell Toulon for €1 – Lemaitre

12 May 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN A matter of weeks after ProD2 strugglers Biarritz were sold for €1, Toulon owner Bernard Lemaitre suggested he might be willing […]

Record crowds flock to matches

28 April 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON – FRENCH COLUMN More people than ever are flocking through the turnstiles of Top 14 and ProD2 matches, according to figures published by […]

Ban teams who pick reserves for knock-out stages

21 April 2024 0 comments

The Bulls are not the first outfit to undermine the European Cup by picking an understrength team, with some French clubs – Bourgoin in particular […]

Outsiders aiming for a place in the final

21 April 2024 0 comments

Paul Rees looks ahead to the Champions Cup semi-finals where Quins and Saints are facing an uphill battle BEFORE this season’s Champions Cup started, there […]

JIFF looks likely to play a vital role

21 April 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON – FRENCH COLUMN It’s logical – as the final stop-start sprint in a hard-fought Top 14 season begins – to think purely in […]

Sharks too strong for ordinary Edinburgh

14 April 2024 0 comments

By BRYN PALMER Sharks ……………36pts Tries: Am 16, J Venter 26, Mbonambi 55 Conversions: Masuku 17, 27, 56 Penalties: Masuku 48, 52, 65, 70; Bosch […]

We need Biarrtitz back to their best

14 April 2024 0 comments

SERGE Blanco, the finest full-back ever to grace the union game, spent his entire club career at Biarritz. So did the celebrated loose forward Michel […]

Pienaar heads the list for Europe’s golden oldies

14 April 2024 0 comments

In the course of wheeling their way into the Challenge Cup quarter-finals last weekend against the Cheetahs, the Michelin Men of Clermont brought a somewhat […]

André, high priest of French running rugby

14 April 2024 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Andre Boniface, who died earlier this week aged 89, and his younger […]

Care set to stay at Quins

7 April 2024 0 comments

ON THE BLINDSIDE Veteran scrum-half Danny Care is set to snub lucrative offers from France and sign a contract extension at Harlequins. Care has received […]

Montpellier lead chase for Munster ace Frisch

7 April 2024 0 comments

Montpellier are leading the chase for Munster centre Antoine Frisch, who has declared his allegiance to France over Ireland. Born in Fontainebleau, France, Frisch qualifies […]

TV deal to break €500m barrier

7 April 2024 0 comments

FRENCH COLUMN – JAMES HARRINGTON France’s Ligue Nationale de Rugby hopes to pocket more than half-a-billion euros, after launching a call for tenders for Top […]

Quins hoping to tempt Care, 37, with new deal

24 March 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES Harlequins are trying to persuade Danny Care to sign a new contract and finish his career at The Stoop, 18 years after […]

Wallaby star Izaia signs for Tigers

24 March 2024 0 comments

ON THE BLINDSIDE LEICESTER have signed Australia centre Izaia Perese for the 2024-25 season on a ‘multi-year’ deal from Sydney-based Waratahs. The 26-yearold former rugby […]

Ten Italian tyros who will hit the headlines

24 March 2024 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS IT’S BECOME almost a mantra or article of faith recently that reinforcements, in the form of a squadron of hungry young guns, are […]

Toulon heading in right direction

24 March 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TOULON coach Pierre Mignoni earned something of a reprieve this weekend, as his side’s 54-7 win over Montpellier at Stade Mayol […]

Tuilagi to leave Sale for Bayonne

19 March 2024 0 comments

England’s Manu Tuilagi will leave Sale Sharks, and likely bring an end to his more than a dozen-year international career, to join French club Bayonne […]

Ireland lining up NZ and Wallabies

17 March 2024 0 comments

Ireland will face New Zealand and Australia in their autumn series before head coach Andy Farrell takes his leave of absence to lead the British […]

All the pressure’s on us – Cockerill

17 March 2024 0 comments

By JON NEWCOMBE PREVIEW… Georgia vs Portugal Today. Kick-off 8pm, Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris Eddie Jones has coached three national teams, South Africa have won two […]

I was thrilled to bits to be picked for England

17 March 2024 0 comments

My Life in Rugby with Magnus Lund – The former England, Sale and Biarritz flanker talks about his life in the game AS most people […]

Toulouse and Stade in line for a race to glory

17 March 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The top two tiers of French domestic rugby have been on hiatus this weekend, giving fans a clear run at the […]

Sorry Cockers, but it’s Portugal for me

10 March 2024 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I wish the doughty warriors of Georgia no ill will – on […]

Oyonnax have to keep on believing

10 March 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Oyonnax manager Joe El-Abd promised last week that his side would ‘fight to the end’ following their so-near-so-far 35-39 home defeat […]

McHenry grabs his lifeline from Dax

3 March 2024 0 comments

By LUKE JARMYN Alex McHenry scored Jersey’s third try against Exeter in September, yet eight days later was selling nearly all his possessions and left […]

Lethargic France in need of new drive

25 February 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES PREVIEW…France vs Italy (Today. Kick-off 3pm, Decathlon Arena, Lille) IT does not come any more demanding in the Six Nations than visits […]

Lawes can bring some order

25 February 2024 0 comments

Paul Rees says the former England captain who has signed for Brive will have much to offer when he retires Brive will be delighted that […]

Collazo may risk all to beat the drop

25 February 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN It is a truth universally accepted in French domestic rugby that the side propping up the Top 14 at Christmas is […]

Toulon need to win over the critics

18 February 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Sometimes it’s not immediately obvious whether a side is in good shape or not. A simple look at the Top 14 […]

My first foreign mission was in deepest Siberia

11 February 2024 0 comments

My Life in Rugby with Rob Debney – The former international and Premiership referee talks about his journey in the game RUGBY refereeing took me […]

Brive line up move for Lawes

4 February 2024 0 comments

Courtney Lawes is set to leave Northampton this summer to join Brive. According to reports in France, the former England back row has agreed a […]

Davidson relief as Castres stop rot

4 February 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The afternoon after the Friday-night chastening Six Nations defeat in Marseille before, a subdued French rugby audience tuned in to the […]

Conquistador going in search of pot of gold

28 January 2024 0 comments

Six Nations team-by-team previews: Italy Brendan Gallagher predicts new coach Gonzalo Quesada could just be a very good appointment SO what next for Italy? What […]

The tackle: Different options are available

28 January 2024 0 comments

Dafydd Jenkins’ yellow card last week for Exeter against Bayonne has caused much debate with most people agreeing that is was almost physically impossible for […]

Lyon get it right against Perpignan

28 January 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON In a league featuring the likes of Racing 92 and Toulouse, Toulon and La Rochelle, Bordeaux and Stade Francais, there’s a ‘big match’ […]

We need a more exclusive guest list

21 January 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED HERE’S a little brain-teaser, just to make sure you’ve been paying attention at the back of the class: since 2014, when […]

Hutchinson glad to be back in the fold

21 January 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES Much has been made of the five backs from free-scoring Northampton who have made the Six Nations squad, but just as deserving […]

Pearson ready to step up at Saints

14 January 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES Norhtampton are doing everything they can to persuade Courtney Lawes to carry on at Franklin’s Gardens, but should the former England captain […]

Pearson hat-trick helps Saints seal last 16 spot

14 January 2024 0 comments

By ROGER PANTING Northampton………………..61pts Tries: Freeman 1, Pearson 13, 20, 44; Lawes 27, Langdon 32, Waller 39, 48 James 70 Conversions: Smith 1, 13, 20, […]