he had disapeared for a while I think but played well last week end

ON a rotten note

http://www.rue89.com/rue89-sport/2012/0 ... cer-231258

Of course, who are we kidding. Time to make it legal...to a certain extend.

Montpellier sign Hape

http://www.rugbyrama.fr/rugby/top-14/2011-2012/montpellier-hape-a-signe_sto3241007/story.shtml

Why did they do that, he's shit

+1

Stupid signing. Unless Galthié has seen something nobody has. Ranger would have been much better.

Hape is a strange buy alright...

But Castres have just confirmed Marcel Garvey from Worcester.

Two stupid moves.

I think there are dumber players than Ranger but I know you like the hyperbole...Ranger needs a coach that will screw his head right, Galthié can do that. Look what he's done with Gorgodze, Tulou, Nagusa etc...

Chris Masoe ( one of my favorite #8 ) going to Toulon

ALLEZ BO

The speed of that David Smith for Toulon!

Nice finish too.

The 25th journee should be the one.
Agen @ Bayonne
Bordeaux @ Brive
Biarritz @ Montpellier
Lyon @ Perpignan

Toulon are shit. Can't see them winning the Brennus.

Gunther is probably going to be selected for the Argentina tour though.

Toulouse are in a period of average transition

Old players coming to their end of their careers.

Ageing players needing to be replaced.

Injuries that nobody knows whether full recovery will ever be attained.

A struggle to defeat Brive today, next to the dynamic Clermont and Montpellier, Toulouse have the feel of an ageing beauty that has just begun to lose her luster.

The diehard fan will probably castigate me for heracy and will probably trip off the tongue the likes of Poitreneaud, Clerc, Fritz, David, Dusuitoir however, the proof is in the performances and other teams, that have been hit by the World Cup and the 6 nations, have faired my better.

^
Toulouse and Clermont have given around 8 players each. Toulouse had ex foreign stars to replace them while Clermont had mainly their young espoirs ,and they still #1 and 2 . I think the teams who have been penalized the most were Montpellier(#5) and Biarritz (11), it was only 4 players but they are the heart of the teams and as we mentioned before these teams had or have a lot of good players in the infirmerie.

Say what you want about Mourad but that's a nice come-back...

No. It's all pathetic juvenile bickering, with his usual little cheap shot at "franchouillards". This guy is a total cunt whose little shtick grew old 2 years ago. May he fuck off from rugby permanently.

Was at the UBB game, massive f*** up to let the offensive BP go when the match was so easy... Hopefully it doesn't bite the Bordelo-Beglais back I the end.

Hard to win in Brive, the UBB-USAP game on the last round will be massive and should be quite something. Casters and Clermont will also have a big say in this vs. Bayonne and Brive. Hopefully all the teams will go for it.

Take Domingo and Zirakshvili out of the equation and Clermont's scrum disintegrates.

They need to strengthen the front row a bit. And they will have to think about a powerful number 8, one that can do the carry in the hard games. Also, our locks, bar Jacquet, are aging and there is a need to think about the future.

But where the Auvergnat pack is good is in the rucks. I think they are the best rucking unit in the Top14.

I'd be pissed if UBB goes down, they were the most exciting team of the "weaker" ones. It's a bloody close championship, and you pay cash the sligthest loss of form.

Re: Toulouse, I think they are just preparing their semi-final. The focus is not so much on winning those games any more, it will be on getting the players all ready to win the Brennus again. Clermont will be side-tracked by their HEC effort, and loss or win this week-end, they will either have to recover from the disappointment, or concentrate on a final. So they will be up for the taking. The ones to watch are Montpellier again.

The problem with UBB is the lack of bonus points over the season. Only 5 BPs while USAP had 9 BP or Brive had 12 BPs. Left too many along the road.

Is French domestic talent so impoverished that just about every superannuated has-been from Aviva/Rabo can secure a final payday in T14. Some of the selections have been utterly perverse, not to say deluded. It is also presumably the case that many of these duds are being paid more in France to occasionally demonstrate their decaying skills.

There was this article in L'equipe yesterday or the day before on Top 14 academies. Following is an extract:





I'd be curious to know their equivalent in other championships.

edit: better?

Still broken. For me at least. Any link?

I've tried from another computer (for both), if you follow the url (link) you get the image e.g. drag the "image" and drop it in another tab/window. I dunno why it's filtered out like this.

Porn site?

Some teams are taking the piss with their academy players, unless these lists are of past of present academy players...