HIGHLIGHTS of the latest round of Champions League football ran for 80 minutes on BBC1 last Wednesday. Contrast that to the terrestrial TV coverage for […]
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). […]
BORDEAUX-Begles finished last season at the end of June on the receiving end of the most one-sided of all French finals, swamped on a Mediterranean […]
Paul Gustard believes the RFU should look at scrapping the overseas player ban and allow Steve Borthwick to pick players based outside the Gallagher Premiership.
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 […]
EXCLUSIVE By JON NEWCOMBE Dean Richards, the most decorated coach in Leicester Tigers’ history, has given Michael Cheika’s appointment the big thumbs up. Cheika this […]
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN “We didn’t just lose the arm wrestle – we had our wrists broken under the table,” Bordeaux boss Yannick Bru admitted, […]
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN THE English Football League’s Championship play-off final is sometimes referred to as ‘the richest game in football’, with £100million of spoils […]
Matthew Luddington talks to Gloucester and Italy scrum-half Stephen Varney following his eye-catching campaign Stephen Varney has truly had a breakthrough season. The 23-year-old scrum-half […]
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Stuart Hogg’s reported surprise reverse-ferret back into the professional game after his retirement last year – and repeated suggestions that he […]
Castres have reinforced their position as the most red-carded of clubs, a fact unlikely to surprise those who remember their most famous or infamous player […]
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 […]
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 […]
By BEN JAYCOCK Despite suffering a 14-try whitewash last weekend and finishing second bottom in the Premiership for a second straight year, Lewis Ludlow believes […]
By PAUL REES Nearly half of the Champions Cup finals have involved Toulouse or Leinster, the two most successful sides in the competition, but Saturday […]
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 […]
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 […]
JAMES HARRINGTON – FRENCH COLUMN More people than ever are flocking through the turnstiles of Top 14 and ProD2 matches, according to figures published by […]
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 […]
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IT’S Northampton against Munster in Europe today and for me that can […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Lewis Ludlam has confirmed he has made the “extremely tough decision” to leave Northampton Saints at the end of the season. The 28-year-old has been […]
BRENDAN GALLAGHER WELL, it wasn’t quite the ‘Bazball’ rugby that Jamie George apparently aspires to – did we really expect things to change overnight? – […]
ON THE BLINDSIDE BY NEIL FISSLER Stade Francais are expecting former England centre Joe Marchant, who only moved to the French capital after the World […]
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 […]
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 […]
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’ […]
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN An email drop and social media flurry confirmed the line-up of France’s 34-player training squad for the Six Nations, which kicks […]
The 2023/24 Champions Cup resumes with an eagerly anticipated third round of pool-stage matches. English teams have performed exceptionally well up to this point, with […]
Antoine Dupont could take a sabbatical year after the 2024 Olympic Games, reports in France suggest. The France captain, 26, is looking ahead to an […]