French Top 14 summary

[Ze Stade Fan]

Dear Tigers,

For those of view interested in the Top 14 French national rugby championship, here is a summary of what I could see.

My beloved Stade Français is the only amongst the four teams that played the play-offs last season NOT to win their match on Friday.

But they have excuses. They drew 22 to 22 with a last gasp drop goal scored by impeccable Noel Oelshig.

It was an away game in Toulon, a side that has considerably beefed up during the summer, with the notable arrival of Jonny Wilkinson among others. Wilko played. Not that well : his kicking and tackling were awe inspiring but his game ball in hand leaves room for improvement. Our Noel Oelschig was a very apt kicker on Stade’s side, and a surprinsingly good fly half when he replaced Liebenberg who came out when Dupuy entered the pitch.

Stade was also diminished by the French regulation which stipulates that players selected for international duties should be rested a certain number of weeks. Hence the absence of Szarzewski, Beauxis, Arias, Papé, both Bergamasco and Parisse who is also suspended for eye gouging. Dupuy and Kayser played with English licences so tey could be fielded. Stade also had a number of players lost to injuries (Southwell, Phillips, Mieres) which called for academy players to join the fray : the already experienced Djibril Camara, who is going to be a great winger if he keeps on the good work, and the young Romain Raine who played his first match at the wing with the elite formation.

Stade will regret Liebenberg’s intercepted kick which cost our side a try. Failing this, Toulon may very well have lost. Dupuy, slightly injured, came in late but showed good abilities notably in his leadership over the big boys. Kayser played too briefly to impress. Haskell got a well deserved yellow card but it was a try saving foul; so he is pardonned.

Other results :

Clermont took some time to triumph over Bourgoin but they finished in style, scoring a total 4 tries;
Our arch-nemesis Toulouse won a very lucky game with a last gasp try by lock Patricio “Pato” Albacete, one of my favourite Argentinian players;
Champion of France Perpignan scored and won home against Bayonne, although the losers scored a gem of a try;
Brive massacred Montpellier 30 to 9 and took the top of the table;

Biarritz miserably lost home to Castres;
Newly promoted Racing Métro defeated newly promoted Albi.

Voilà mes amis, if there are particular details you’d wish to know, feel free to ask, I’ll explain why I don’t know the answer.

[kingol22]

so whos going to win? im backing toulon

[Bill W]

Thanks for that Remi. An interesting start to your season.

[Ze Stade Fan]

so whos going to win? im backing toulon

Toulon drew, as we did...

But Toulon is gonna grow into an impressive side imho so it's fortunate that we played them early in the season.

[4071]

Wilko played. Not that well : his kicking and tackling were awe inspiring

Both were flawed, though. The first penalty he missed never came close to the posts, and he also missed a couple of tackles.

In all, I thought it was pretty poor from Wilkinson - the sort of performance that would have been roundly criticised if it had come from someone like Goode.

[Ze Stade Fan]

Wilko played. Not that well : his kicking and tackling were awe inspiring

Both were flawed, though. The first penalty he missed never came close to the posts, and he also missed a couple of tackles.

In all, I thought it was pretty poor from Wilkinson - the sort of performance that would have been roundly criticised if it had come from someone like Goode.

Yet he scored 17 points for his side, a striking difference with Toulon last season when they couldn't find a decent kicker in their ranks. So Jonny is still good news down there.

[voice of the crumbie]

Very interesting. Thanks very much Ze Stade Fan. Would like further weekly updates if you can provide.

[kingol22]

so whos going to win? im backing toulon

Toulon drew, as we did...

But Toulon is gonna grow into an impressive side imho so it's fortunate that we played them early in the season.

i meant overall

[chinnjamie]

Thanks for that Ze Stade, nice to hear that the Ex-Tigers got a run out. Benny Kayser and Szarzewski, now thats not a bad choice of hookers is it? It should be a good battle between them for the France no2 slot as well as the Stade slot.

[dailywaffle]

so whos going to win? im backing toulon

They'll need to find a scrum first. Roncero was loving it.

[Milo]

Watched Jour de Rugby today and had highlights of a few games - some impressive tries. We were in the south of France last week, not too far from Toulon and I wouldn't last 5 minutes running around in that heat. The most impressive thing I saw today though was Wilkinson's post match interview in French. You could just see English footballers doing that!

[dailywaffle]

I've heard it reported that when Jonny is spoken to in English, be it by (non-English) reporters or members of Toulon's staff (including PSA), then he replies in French pretty much all the time.
I'm not sure if we should be surprised at that or whether it is to be expected, but it seems commendable enough to me.

[Bill W]

I've heard it reported that when Jonny is spoken to in English, be it by (non-English) reporters or members of Toulon's staff (including PSA), then he replies in French pretty much all the time.
I'm not sure if we should be surprised at that or whether it is to be expected, but it seems commendable enough to me.

My two grandaughters are bilingual. French and English. Mum is French, Dad (my son) in English. They talk to me in either langauge but tend to stick to the one we started in. However this was a wonderful exchange with the youngest Amele (3)

Amele: Pan

Me: What did you want?

Amele: Bed

Me: Du pain?

Amele: Oui

[Milo]

[London Tiger]

just as an aside, Wilkinson is very interested in languages to the extent he almost joined Durham University after the 2005 Lions tour as a part time languages student, but decided against it as he felt his fitness would hold up. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!