French rugby Updates : Le café du Rugby.

ScrubsfanChris

Clermont are running riot against Brive. 41-6 up with 30 minutes still left to play.

Erik Shin

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

Clermont are running riot against Brive. 41-6 up with 30 minutes still left to play.

That was 3 hours ago...how did it end?!!
Don't you just hate end of season cliffhangers!??

vienne86

Erik Shin wrote: »

That was 3 hours ago...how did it end?!!
Don't you just hate end of season cliffhangers!??

62 - 6!!!

ScrubsfanChris

Erik Shin wrote: »

That was 3 hours ago...how did it end?!!
Don't you just hate end of season cliffhangers!??

Brive would have needed the miracle of all comebacks for this to be a cliffhanger
Just forgot to post the final score

nc6000

https://twitter.com/top14rugby/status/909175095322701824

iroced

Let's have a first look at this year Top14 with a little more than the quarter of the season played and before the start of European competitions.



Lyon the surprise so far. They're building their squad for quite a while now, à la Toulon (with less investments). Maybe it could be their breakthrough season.

Montpellier is impressive. The playing is not yet very attractive and convincing but it's powerful and scoring for fun so far. Vern Cotter needs time though to transform our bish bash bosh White style.


Toulouse seems back on track. Their new president is doing them much good. Not sure Mola is THE man but so far so good.

La Rochelle are confirming their previous amazing season. And now they also can win "ugly" as they did this week-end home to Racing. Crazy that some pundits "criticized" them for that (like they were not attractive). Despite their great season last year, they're still La Rochelle, a small dwarf in a world of giants . And they beat the giant, ugly or not. Again, it shows that money doesn't do it all.

Bordeaux continue its progression too. They're definitely a play-off candidate now. I'm very happy for Jacques Brunel who was the man to rebring glory to Perpignan back then and who's doing a great job so far at UBB despite the summer changes.

Toulon are average so far. Pretty inconsistent. But they're up there. And I'm eager to see how Galthié would fare there. Will he succeed in making RCT more attractive? I think he's a very good coach but seems to have quite a temper. So far he had great results with SF & MHR, making both these teams develop some attacking rugby but both times the story ended in the gutter...


Pau are the second surprise so far. Not sure if they'll be able to keep it up long-term but their ranking is "in reality" even better than it is considering they already played Toulon & Toulouse away.

Racing are having a very average start. They lost points in games they shouldn't have. I'm not surprised though. I never rated their coaches. Their style of play (restrictive to summarise) imply such "chaotic" results.

Clermont are having a slower start than usually but it may be a good thing for them. They'll be a little more "in the shadow" of other performing clubs (Montpellier, Lyon, Toulouse so far). Some people say they'er still digesting their Brennus... Well, I'm not sure. But I'd not be surprised to see them focus more on the ERCC this year. They'll be there anyway in the playoff. They're the best working French club for 20 years now. They have a consistency at top level only Toulouse outclassed.

Stade Français are the same than last year. Planets did align for them 3 years ago and they took advantage of it very well but they've become a second string team in top14 now. Their victory against Montpellier at week-end is a little deceptive since they got a very fortunate winning try (unseen blattant forward pass). But, in this tight top14, second string or not, I would not discard them. A couple of victories and you're up the rankings, confidence sky high and it could be the start of a successful series.

Castres are struggling for a couple of seasons now. I think they'll challenge for a play-off spot like the previous 2 seasons but hard to see them past it.


And then, we have what seems to be our relegation battle between Oyonnax, Agen & Brive.

The key for them will be the home record. So far Oyonnax drew against Toulouse, beat Agen, got thrashed by UBB and got a LBP vs Pau. Agen beat Racing, got a LBP vs La Rochelle, lost to Pau and got well beaten by Lyon. And Brive lost to La Rochelle & Racing, got a LBP vs Toulouse and beat Castres.

Head to head games will be important too. Agen got a LBP away to Oyonnax (12-10). That will count. Remember how USAP went down for 2 pts in their H2H games with Oyonnax.

So contrary to what the current rankings shows, since they finally stop the bleeding by getting their first win at the week-end, I'd put Brive ahead of this three-way race.

Neoulous

iroced wrote: »

Remember how USAP went down for 2 pts in their H2H games with Oyonnax.

You just had to bring that infamous game back up :P...

Former Former

Clermont have signed Tim Nanai-Williams.

Good signing; with only Raka, Nakataici and Toeava in the back three, they are lacking a bit of flair and pace.

Buer

I'd have been all over him as a signing a few years ago but I think his star has dimmed somewhat now. He has has had some injuries and a stint in Japan after which I don't reckon he is the player he once was.

iroced

Maybe you talked about it elsewhere but I did not see it... But French rugby continues to dig deeper its own grave. Laporte sacked Novès and we're going with his previous assistant when he was in charge of Les Bleus: Jacques Brunel. A premiereto change our national coach in between 2 WCs :rolleyes:...

At this level, ya can only laugh :pac:...

irishbucsfan

iroced wrote: »

Maybe you talked about it elsewhere but I did not see it... But French rugby continues to dig deeper its own grave. Laporte sacked Novès and we're going with his previous assistant when he was in charge of Les Bleus: Jacques Brunel. A premiereto change our national coach in between 2 WCs :rolleyes:...

At this level, ya can only laugh :pac:...

Was mentioned in the general thread I think but yes, it's a bit mad.

Maybe there'll be some madness in the first selection that'll trip us up in the 6 Nations, although I am selfishly hoping that it will be a disaster for France and let us off to an easy start.

iroced

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Was mentioned in the general thread I think but yes, it's a bit mad.

Maybe there'll be some madness in the first selection that'll trip us up in the 6 Nations, although I am selfishly hoping that it will be a disaster for France and let us off to an easy start.

Difficult to tell. Don't know how the players were getting on with Noves. And don't know how they'll do with Brunel.

I'm not very optimistic anyway...

shrapnel222

it's a bit of a joke tbh, what is the point? We need a foreign coach at this stage, bring in a Graham Henry, an Eddie Jones or a Steve Hansen to completely rework the set up and training regime. we need radical change, but instead we're making the same mistakes, employing the same people, and expecting a different outcome.

Don Kiddick

I see another ex Munster man has replaced ROG as skills coach at Racing... Casey Laulala ...not sure how that's going to work out tbh.

Turnipman

Don Kiddick wrote: »

I see another ex Munster man has replaced ROG as skills coach at Racing... Casey Laulala ...not sure how that's going to work out tbh.

It's a strange one, especially given that ROG is described on the Racing website as:


neither skill being among Casey's strongest attributes.

pickarooney

I wouldn't have said defence was amongst ROG's strongest attributes either.

Don Kiddick

pickarooney wrote: »

I wouldn't have said defence was amongst ROG's strongest attributes either.

Those who can..do...those who can't...teach..

Bridge93

Clermont seem to be in big trouble domestically. Threw away a 17 point lead at home to Castres to lose again. Is it purely injuries or what's causing this?

prawnsambo

Bridge93 wrote: »

Clermont seem to be in big trouble domestically. Threw away a 17 point lead at home to Castres to lose again. Is it purely injuries or what's causing this?

Injuries I'd say. They're completely out of out-halfs and have other significant injuries, such as Fofana.

Burkie1203

prawnsambo wrote: »

Injuries I'd say. They're completely out of out-halfs and have other significant injuries, such as Fofana.

Entire backline gone through injury. Lopez, Fofana, Penaud, Raka are massive losses

FACECUTTR

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Entire backline gone through injury. Lopez, Fofana, Penaud, Raka are massive losses

Completely wiped out in the backline. Two easy games left for them in the champions cup though so if they start getting guys back for the quarters they will be fairly strong again.

Burkie1203

FACECUTTR wrote: »

Completely wiped out in the backline. Two easy games left for them in the champions cup though so if they start getting guys back for the quarters they will be fairly strong again.

They have a good few guys out for 4-5 months. Some are due back in March but after missing half a season its hard to know how strong they will be. Its not like one player. Its literally an entire backline and more

molloyjh

Racing beat Clermont 58-6 today!!!

CatFromHue

There are no easy gam...........

I didn't know Toeava still played too

thomond2006

https://twitter.com/greub1/status/950109156878450691

The state of that. Petty.

Bridge93

What does it say?

errlloyd

Is that just showing how **** the away dressing room is?

vienne86

molloyjh wrote: »

Racing beat Clermont 58-6 today!!!

Saw that. I know Clermont probably sent their thirds.....but all the same, it's some thrashing.... they're lucky to be only playing Saints next weekend.

prawnsambo

vienne86 wrote: »

Saw that. I know Clermont probably sent their thirds.....but all the same, it's some thrashing.... they're lucky to be only playing Saints next weekend.

They only have the thirds left...

Camille Lopez, Benjamin Kayser, Remi Lamerat, Greig Laidlaw, Alivereti Raka, Loni Uhila, Aurelian Rougerie, Nao Nakaitaci, Sitaleki Timani and David Strettle are all out injured. :eek:

pickarooney

Their 18 year old debutant went to hospital unconscious. Looked like a brutal collision with Vakatawa

errlloyd

prawnsambo wrote: »

They only have the thirds left...

Camille Lopez, Benjamin Kayser, Remi Lamerat, Greig Laidlaw, Alivereti Raka, Loni Uhila, Aurelian Rougerie, Nao Nakaitaci, Sitaleki Timani and David Strettle are all out injured. :eek:

Wesley Fofanna, Luke McAllister, Damian Penaud....

I think there is even more.

Quintis

pickarooney wrote: »

Their 18 year old debutant went to hospital unconscious. Looked like a brutal collision with Vakatawa

Samuel Ezeala, is ok apparently, anyone know how he ended up in the Clermont academy, was it scouted from Spain?

The Lost Sheep

Quintis wrote: »

Samuel Ezeala, is ok apparently, anyone know how he ended up in the Clermont academy, was it scouted from Spain?

I understand he went to Clermont, showed them tapes of him playing and they took him on

Quintis

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

I understand he went to Clermont, showed them tapes of him playing and they took him on

Really, fair play to him, you got to admire the gumption

iroced

Bridge93 wrote: »

What does it say?

It says "warmth and joy to receive are the keywords of RM92 reception, hospitality a second nature". That's a rough quick litteralesque translation :P. But you get the irony .


As for Clermont, I think, outside the avalanche of injuries they recently suffered, they're more focused on the ERCC this year.

gooch2k9

The lovable Chris Ashton with his 16th try of the season.

gooch2k9

Ashtonwatch: Equals the trys scored in a single season record.

prawnsambo

Clermiont seem to be completely taking the piss here. Don't look a bit interested.

prawnsambo

It seems every Clermont player has decided that they will rescue the game single-handedly with a piece of unbelievable individual brilliance. With all too predictable results.

thomond2006

Unless they win the ERCC this season, Clermont are likely out of next's season ERCC.

P_1

thomond2006 wrote: »

Unless they win the ERCC this season, Clermont are likely out of next's season ERCC.

I thought you could only qualify via league position? Challenge cup could have a few big names in it next season.

Buer

P_1 wrote: »

I thought you could only qualify via league position? Challenge cup could have a few big names in it next season.

19 teams qualify through their leagues. The last place goes to:

i) Champions Cup winner, if not already qualified
ii) Challenge Cup winner, if not already qualified
iii) Challenge Cup losing finalist, if not already qualified
iv) Play-off match between the losing Challenge Cup semi-finalists, if not already qualified
v) Highest ranked non-qualified club by virtue of league position from the same league as the Champions Cup winner

Zzippy

The French federation have ruled that Scott Spedding is not eligible for JIFF status, so he apparently will be considered an overseas player. Clubs are only allowed 16 overseas players. Kinda bizarre that he can have a French passport and be capped for France but cannot qualify as a French player for squad quotas...

shrapnel222

Zzippy wrote: »

The French federation have ruled that Scott Spedding is not eligible for JIFF status, so he apparently will be considered an overseas player. Clubs are only allowed 16 overseas players. Kinda bizarre that he can have a French passport and be capped for France but cannot qualify as a French player for squad quotas...

Why can he have a French passport?

thomond2006

shrapnel222 wrote: »

Why can he have a French passport?

He took French citizenship.

iroced

Very quiet in here...




So. We have our 2 promotted teams in top14. USAP won the ProD2 final last week against Grenoble (38-13). Bar the second half of the first half they dominated the game, starting with a far superior scrum.
After 4 years of purgatory, the 2009 French champion is back where it belongs .


And yesterday, Grenoble didn't waste their second chance to go up by comfortably beating Oyonnax (47-22) in the ProD2/Top14 play-off game.


Brive & Oyonnax down. Perpignan & Grenoble up.

Squatter

iroced wrote: »

And yesterday, Grenoble didn't waste their second chance to go up by comfortably beating Oyonnax (47-22) in the ProD2/Top14 play-off game.

Brive & Oyonnax down. Perpignan & Grenoble up.

All good.

I see that Narbonne finished bottom of Pro D2 - does that mean that they will be relegated?

iroced

Squatter wrote: »

I see that Narbonne finished bottom of Pro D2 - does that mean that they will be relegated?

Yes down in Fédérale 1, 3rd level of French rugby. Terrible for such a historical club. But Béziers have been there before and went back up in ProD2 (they played the promotion battle this year). Coming back to Narbonne, the club is a mess at the moment. It's no real huge surprise to see them down...

gooch2k9

Anyone watching the Toulon v Lyon match? Two high tackles against Lyon ignored by Raynaud then Guirado gets a bit theatrical and gets Lyon player yellowed.

Tigerandahalf

gooch2k9 wrote: »

Anyone watching the Toulon v Lyon match? Two high tackles against Lyon ignored by Raynaud then Guirado gets a bit theatrical and gets Lyon player yellowed.

Game is on free to air on tv5monde