JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN PICTURES: Getty Images Impressive debut: Courtney Lawes playing for Brive against Oyonnax. Inset, Jonny May COURTNEY Lawes officially kicked off his […]
NEWCASTLE Falcons have signed centre Sammy Arnold on a two-year contract. The 28-year-old has spent the last two seasons at Brive, where he played 25 […]
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Never mind that the words ‘Stade Toulousain’ have only just been meticulously punched into the plaque on the Bouclier de Brennus […]
FRANCE Three-time reigning champions France will be hoping to do what only New Zealand have done before and win four U20s World Championships on the […]
By BEN JAYCOCK at Twickenham Courtney Lawes was delighted to have a fairytale ending to his 17 years of service at his boyhood club, skippering Northampton […]
Bath will face Northampton at Twickenham on Saturday after being transformed from Gallagher Premiership no-hopers to title contenders in under two years. South African Johann […]
Courtney Lawes says he will “treasure forever” his 17 years as a Northampton player as he prepares for an emotional Franklin’s Gardens farewell. Lawes’ final […]
Courtney Lawes was typically modest when he was presented with the Rugby Union Writers Club’s prestigious Pat Marshall Award as the outstanding Rugby Personality of […]
RUGBY MATTERS Members of the Rugby Writers club have recently been voting for the Pat Marshall award which we scribes use to honour the outstanding […]
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 […]
BIARRITZ’S new owners this week provided French rugby’s financial watchdog with suitable guarantees of their finances, and revealed an eight-year plan to rebuild the club […]
JAMES HARRINGTON – FRENCH COLUMN More people than ever are flocking through the turnstiles of Top 14 and ProD2 matches, according to figures published by […]
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN To the relief of fans, white smoke was finally seen over the stand tops of Biarritz’s Parc des Sports d’Aguilera recently, […]
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 […]
Courtney Lawes will leave Northampton this summer to join ProD2 side Brive after 17 seasons at Franklin’s Gardens. Lawes said Northampton did “everything they could” […]
By PAUL REES PREVIEW…England A vs Portugal (Today. Kick-off 1pm, Welford Road) Steve Borthwick left Edinburgh after England’s clash against Scotland last night and set […]
By JON NEWCOMBE Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson still harbours some hope that Courtney Lawes has a future at Franklin’s Gardens beyond the end […]
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The new cycle of French senior men’s rugby starts here – a month-and-a-half after the 2023 Rugby World Cup ended, and […]
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TIME was very firmly called on Richard Cockerill’s brief run as Montpellier manager six days ago, after just five months and […]
By PAUL REES Pat Lam has re-established the French connection to the Premiership by signing powerful centre Virimi Vakatawa following a chance conversation in August. […]
By Ben Jaycock Former Wales international Rhys Webb has tested positive for a growth hormone following an unexpected check by the French Anti-Doping Agency carried […]
NEWS EXTRA VIRIMI Vakatawa’s premature retirement is over as the former France centre started for the Barbarians against Samoa last night in Brive. Vakatawa, who […]
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IT’S BEEN a bittersweet roller coaster five or six years for Spanish […]
Premiership clubs are poised to miss out on signing Tonga and Highlanders outside centre Fetuli Paea when his contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union […]