French rugby 2020/2021

[Robespierre]

Another extraordinary weekend of Top14 results, averaging 63 points per match!

Brive 21 Clermont 43 (Clermont are now top of the table with this impressive away win with bp)
Bordeaux 71 Agen 5 ( Agen played 7 lost 7 with only 1 point - they're doomed, I tell ye!)
Castres 28 Racing 26
Bayonne v Toulon postponed
Pau 24 La Rochelle 35
S Français 48 Toulouse 14 (wasn't expecting that, even though Toulouse were missing at least 8 players)
Lyon v Montpellier postponed

1 Clermont played 6 23 points
2 L Rochelle 6 22
3 Toulouse 7 18
4 Lyon 6 16
5 Racing 5 14
6 SFrançais 6 14
7 Pau 7 14
8 Toulon 5 13
9 Montpellier 5 12
10 Bayonne 6 12
11 Bordeaux 5 10
12 Brive 6 9
13 Castres 5 8
14 Agen 7 1

[TigerFeetSteve]

Another extraordinary weekend of Top14 results, averaging 63 points per match!

Brive 21 Clermont 43 (Clermont are now top of the table with this impressive away win with bp)
Bordeaux 71 Agen 5 ( Agen played 7 lost 7 with only 1 point - they're doomed, I tell ye!)
Castres 28 Racing 26
Bayonne v Toulon postponed
Pau 24 La Rochelle 35
S Français 48 Toulouse 14 (wasn't expecting that, even though Toulouse were missing at least 8 players)
Lyon v Montpellier postponed

1 Clermont played 6 23 points
2 L Rochelle 6 22
3 Toulouse 7 18
4 Lyon 6 16
5 Racing 5 14
6 SFrançais 6 14
7 Pau 7 14
8 Toulon 5 13
9 Montpellier 5 12
10 Bayonne 6 12
11 Bordeaux 5 10
12 Brive 6 9
13 Castres 5 8
14 Agen 7 1

That looks a big win for Castres

[Robespierre]

Another extraordinary weekend of Top14 results, averaging 63 points per match!

Brive 21 Clermont 43 (Clermont are now top of the table with this impressive away win with bp)
Bordeaux 71 Agen 5 ( Agen played 7 lost 7 with only 1 point - they're doomed, I tell ye!)
Castres 28 Racing 26
Bayonne v Toulon postponed
Pau 24 La Rochelle 35
S Français 48 Toulouse 14 (wasn't expecting that, even though Toulouse were missing at least 8 players)
Lyon v Montpellier postponed

1 Clermont played 6 23 points
2 L Rochelle 6 22
3 Toulouse 7 18
4 Lyon 6 16
5 Racing 5 14
6 SFrançais 6 14
7 Pau 7 14
8 Toulon 5 13
9 Montpellier 5 12
10 Bayonne 6 12
11 Bordeaux 5 10
12 Brive 6 9
13 Castres 5 8
14 Agen 7 1

That looks a big win for Castres

Indeed it was, TFS, and the winning margin would have been greater if they hadn't conceded a last minute converted try that earned Racing an lbp.
An important win too, as it puts a bit more distance from the already doomed Agen. Castres are away to Toulouse next weekend and have a good chance of winning as Toulouse are suffering from having lost so many players to international matches.

[Robespierre]

This weekend's results in the Top14:

Toulon 35 Brive 19
Toulouse 16 Castres 16 (3 matches without a win for Toulouse)
Montpellier v SF postponed
Bordeaux 43 Bayonne 19
Racing 24 Pau 22
La Rochelle 19 Clermont 10 (La Rochelle now in 1st place)
Agen 16 Lyon 19 ( a losing bp for Agen but are still without a win)

1 La Rochelle played 7 26 points
2 Clermont 7 23
3 Lyon 7 20
4 Toulouse 8 20
5 Racing 6 18
6 Toulon 6 18
7 Pau 8 15
8 Bordeaux 6 15
9 S Français 6 14
10 Montpellier 5 12
11Bayonne 7 12
12 Castres 6 10
13 Brive 7 9
14 Agen 8 2

[JP14]

An indication of FFR’s agreement with the LNR as a lot of uncapped and second-choice French players in their squad for next week’s game against Scotland.

[Robespierre]

An indication of FFR’s agreement with the LNR as a lot of uncapped and second-choice French players in their squad for next week’s game against Scotland.

So it seems, although there are some experienced heads in the Scotland squad like Teddy Thomas, Dorian Aldeghiri, Brice Dulin, Baptiste Serin and Matthieu Jalibert. Outstanding Toulon fly half Louis Carbonel has been included and will surely earn his first cap.

[JP14]

An indication of FFR’s agreement with the LNR as a lot of uncapped and second-choice French players in their squad for next week’s game against Scotland.

So it seems, although there are some experienced heads in the Scotland squad like Teddy Thomas, Dorian Aldeghiri, Brice Dulin, Baptiste Serin and Matthieu Jalibert. Outstanding Toulon fly half Louis Carbonel has been included and will surely earn his first cap.

Nice to see Carbonel included, a Serin/Jalibert half-back partnership is still potentially good though.

[Robespierre]

An indication of FFR’s agreement with the LNR as a lot of uncapped and second-choice French players in their squad for next week’s game against Scotland.

So it seems, although there are some experienced heads in the Scotland squad like Teddy Thomas, Dorian Aldeghiri, Brice Dulin, Baptiste Serin and Matthieu Jalibert. Outstanding Toulon fly half Louis Carbonel has been included and will surely earn his first cap.

Nice to see Carbonel included, a Serin/Jalibert half-back partnership is still potentially good though.

Although France lost their last match in Edinburgh, I feel quite optimistic that this “2nd XV” have a good chance of turning the Scots over, even though the Scots seem to be on the up.

[JP14]

Oo I don't know to be honest with you, I'll see how the Scots perform against the Azzurri first I think.

[Robespierre]

This weekend's Top14 results:

Clermont v Lyon postponed
Castres 29 Bordeaux 30
Pau 16 Toulouse 22 (the wheels are back on the Tououse wagon despite missing their internationals!)
Agen 3 Toulon 38 (Agen have played 9 and lost 9)
Bayonne 29 Montpellier 20
Brive 19 Racing 23 (a last minute Racing try denies Brive a rare win)
Stade Français 35 la Rochelle 13 (leaders La Rochelle brought back down to Earth by SF!)

1 La Rochelle played 8 points 26
2 Toulouse 9 24
3 Clermont 7 23
4 Toulon 7 23
5 Racing 7 22
6 Lyon 7 20
7 Bordeaux 7 19
8 S Français 7 19
9 Bayonne 8 16
10 Pau 9 15
11Montpellier 6 12
12 Castres 7 11
13 Brive 8 10
14 Agen 9 2

[Robespierre]

You wouldn't think that the south coast of Brittany in northwest France would be rugby country, but that may be changing!

Rugby Club Vannes are the current leaders in the French second tier ProD2. Although they were beaten at home yesterday evening by Perpignan - after a 7-match winning run, they lead the table by 4 points ahead of Oyonnax in second place, although Oyonnax have three games in hand on the leaders.

Vannes star recruit in the close season was former England fullback Nick Abendanon, who had spent several seasons with Clermont.

Whether Vannes will maintain this position is another matter with teams like Perpignan, Oyonnax, Biarritz and Colomiers in the chasing pack, but we'll see as the season progresses.

[ourla]

Thanks for the updates.

Seems like the natural order is largely in place at the moment.

Would be great to see a team from the North in the top division.

[Cagey Tiger]

Thanks for the updates.

Seems like the natural order is largely in place at the moment.

Would be great to see a team from the North in the top division.

Stade Français, Racing

[Robespierre]

Thanks for the updates.

Seems like the natural order is largely in place at the moment.

Would be great to see a team from the North in the top division.

Stade Français, Racing

They're Paris and they don't count!
The north for me is from Brittany, through Normandy and east over to Lille.
Rouen are in ProD2 (and have Carl Fearns in their squad) and are currently 13th of 16 clubs, and there's Vannes.

[Robespierre]

An article in today's Telegraph. I've always had time for Raphaël Ibanez, as a player (especially with Wasps), a tv pundit, coach, and now team manager of the French XV:-

Raphael Ibanez exclusive interview: 'We wanted to send a message - France are back'
Les Bleus team manager Ibanez pinpoints the moment he knew something special was happening

By
Ben Coles,
RUGBY REPORTER
20 November 2020 • 12:40pm

France are not just fun again: based on their form this year, they are once more a major force in the sport, and team manager Raphael Ibanez can pinpoint the moment he knew something special was happening. “Winning away from home in Cardiff,” he said, when asked which of France’s five wins from six games in 2020 stood out. “That requires a strong character.”

Ibanez should know, having won three Grand Slams as a player with France while also captaining the side to the 1999 Rugby World Cup final. The next part of his answer should put everyone on notice.

“I know we should expect some set-backs in the future, but the main message we wanted to send out to other teams is, 'we’re back',” he says, before breaking into a chuckle. “Of course, we know we have a few areas we need to address, we especially conceded too many penalties in the games against Wales and Ireland for example. But we wanted this French team to be very hard to play, hard to deal with. And offensively, to create some chaos, some trouble for the best defensive set-ups. That’s the main goal for us.”

Glance over France’s numbers for 2020 and they have certainly wreaked havoc going forward. Compared to the other Six Nations sides, France are scoring more points, making more metres and offloads, and are tied first for tries and clean breaks, while sitting fractionally behind Wales for defenders beaten at a rate of 21.8 per game.

A spine is emerging, starting with Julian Marchand at hooker and extending through the locks, Bernard le Roux and Paul Willemse, the captain in the back row, Charles Ollivon, irrepressible young half-backs Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack and finishing with Gael Fickou and Virimi Vakatawa in midfield.


Outside of Le Roux, who at 30 is playing some of the best rugby of his career, this is a youthful side. Raw leaders like Ollivon are learning as they go. On Saturday at Murrayfield, France will return to the scene of their only defeat so far this year.

“We have been fortunate to give confidence to some key players in the team. Ollivon as captain, that was his first experience with so many responsibilities and in fact he did really well, because he looked after his team-mates and played some great games - I think he scored a try in almost every game, which is impressive for a back-row,” Ibanez notes.

“The French team was desperate for years and years to find some talent and a good link between the backs and forwards at nine and 10. I think we are now well aware of the potential there with Antoine and Romain. Those two young players are still learning a lot but they keep developing their skills and understanding of the game. But they learn fast, which is good for us.”

It is hard not to get excited about Dupont in particular. Different in style to the organisers France have recently had at scrum-half - Dimitri Yachvili, Morgan Parra - Dupont is muscular, a runner as well as an excellent distributor. It is rare for France to make a break these days without Dupont popping up as a support runner on the inside. The world, naturally, is raving about him.


“He is learning so fast,” admits Ibanez. “He has so much talent and potential. He was named the best player of the Six Nations, which has never happened for any France men’s player since the trophy was created in 2004.

“People tend to believe he could be part of a World XV. What we say and think is that a World XV is hypothetical and doesn’t exist and in reality if you want to win titles and conquer the world, you have to face the best. Antoine himself has faced the best in his position in the northern hemisphere, but we have not played any southern hemisphere teams - Aaron Smith and TJ Perenara are probably good examples - so there is still a lot to come for himself and the team.”

Dupont, Ntamack and Ollivon were already on the scene last year, when France arguably should have beaten Wales to make the Rugby World Cup semi-finals. The new coaching staff - Ibanez, Galthie, Laurent Labit, William Servat, Karim Ghezal and notably Shaun Edwards - have made an instant impact. Edwards, in particular, seems like the missing piece France have needed for a decade, with his grasp of the local dialect continuing to improve.


“It’s slowly coming along,” notes a laughing Ibanez. “But his contribution is precious. He has so much experience, the trust of the players, which is the most important thing, and on the international stage you do not need too many words, you need to keep it simple. That is what he brings to the team.”

This is not a coaching staff, according to Ibanez, led by a king, like Eddie Jones with England. France have turned to the power of the collective, despite Galthie’s title as head coach.

“It’s a common belief at international level that every team needs a guru, someone on top, an emperor leading the team. But Fabien doesn’t behave like that, not at all. With myself and the coaching staff, we share everything: selection, management, gameplan. This is what we decided since we took over. It’s reinventing, or creating a new model of managing the team and that’s what we want. People will have to get used to it, because we share everything with Fabien and myself and everyone.”

Most importantly of all, France have won back the belief of the public, a vital development with a home Rugby World Cup now on the horizon.

“As I keep saying to the players, if you give everything you have on the field, people will give that back to you a million times over,” Ibanez adds. “We need to keep going and to give a good image of French rugby. We are representing all the amateur clubs, all the people passionate for rugby. The players must be aware of that and I am always there to remind the team of that.”