FRENCH COLUMN
Financial matters continue to top the agenda for France's Top 14 clubs as domestic competitions enter their second week of behind-closed-doors action, after the country entered coronavirus lockdown at the end of October.
Early in the week, the Ligue National de Rugby (LNR), which runs the Top 14 and ProD2, revealed the two professional leagues in France generated €1.25billion during the 2018/19 season for local economies across France. Rugby is, the report said, sport's second biggest economic driver in the country, behind football -which generated €6.48billion in the same period.
That announcement was, apparently, preparing the ground for a dire warning about the current health of the professional game in France, after the abandonment of the 2019/20 season, the early crowd limits at the start of the 2020/21 campaign, and – now – playing games in empty grounds.
French clubs face a major financial problem. “The economic model of our professional rugby, already, could not survive a long spell with limited crowds,” Emmanuel Eschalier, general manager of LNR, told L'Equipe this week. “(Playing) behind closed doors has accelerated (the problem) exponentially.”
The head of the Intervals sports agents' union Martin Fernandez warned that four or five clubs could go to the wall before the end of the season unless crowds – and, crucially, corporate sponsors -were able to return to the stands and their boxes.
“Behind closed doors, so without ticket sales, a club misses out on 20 per cent of its budget. To this must be added, at least 10 per cent additional losses vis-à-vis hospitality partners,” Fernandez said.
President of Bordeaux- Bègles, Laurent Marti, added in the Sud Ouest newspaper: “We have partnerships which have been signed and partly paid for. But we know that – contractually -we have to refund our partners at some point.”
He went further in L'Equipe: “(Playing) in camera is a disaster scenario. It is absolutely not tenable for clubs.”
The threat is such that Fernandez warned of “the disappearance of four or five Top 14 clubs if this situation were to continue until the end of the season”.
Eschalier added: “This is the sad reality. A majority of clubs will be in default at the end of the season. Except those who have a reference shareholder.”
Those clubs that do not have a sugar daddy shareholder, or major single sponsor, and rely most heavily on ticket sales and full corporate boxes include Agen, Brive, Bayonne, Bordeaux, La Rochelle and Toulouse. If Fernandez is correct in his prediction, these are the clubs at greatest risk.
Brive president Simon Gillham said: “There is a point when, if we do not receive help, we will not be able to budget a season.
“We have our own funds that allow us to continue like this until June, that is to say finish the season. But after that… we will be forced to close shop.”
Boardroom fear will loom over all games in France – a country that reported more than 60,000 new Covid-19 cases on Friday – for the immediate future. Until crowds return, until lucrative corporate boxes are filled, which clearly cannot happen at the minute, this fear will remain clear and present.
Those fears will only mount after France's Minister of Sport, Roxana Maracineanu, denied reports that the government had ag reed to give pro rugby clubs a €40million slice of a €110million sports relief fund
. It's ag ainst that backdrop that Toulon and Brive kicked off the Top 14 weekend at Stade Mayol. It was a match that Brive – defeated in their last two – were always going to find difficult, courtesy of a season-long inability to score on the road.
“If we do not receive help we will not be able to budget a season” – Simon Gillham
They actually managed their highest away score of the season, running in 19 points. But they conceded 35 as Patrice Collazo's side picked up a tryscoring bonus to temporarily move up to four th.
Brive, however, slipped to 13th less than 24 hours after the final whistle, as Castres held derby rivals Toulouse to a 16-16 draw at Stade Ernest Wallon.
The extended international period has been dismal for Ugo Mola's Toulouse. They have now lost two and drawn one of their last three. And news got worse, as Jerome Kaino was helped of f the pitch with a badly sprained ankle, and news came through that Francois Cros will be out for two months after breaking a bone in his foot in France's win over Ireland last weekend.
Toulouse face one more match – at Pau – before their French internationals return, having played their three autumn games for Les Bleus.
It was a similar situation at Racing. Already without Camille Chat and Kevin Baubigny who are with the France squad, they lost hooker Kevin Le Guen to injury in the minutes before the game, then young replacement Jonathan Maiau to concussion early in the opening half. International prop Eddie Ben Arous filled-in, playing more than an hour in the middle of the front row.
Ben Arous did well enough out of position. And the hosts will be the first to admit they struggled, but they came from behind to win 24-22, courtesy of a 75th-minute try from back row Fabien Sanconnie.
Bordeaux, meanwhile, made light work of Bayonne, running in six tries to their opponents' three in a 43-19 win.
Having sacked his coaches last weekend, after their seventh defeat in as many games, Agen president Jean-Francois Fonteneau reportedly selected the squad for the Top 14 basement side's must-win match against Lyon early this evening. To be honest, it's hard to see a turnaround in fortunes at Stade Armandie this week. It's already too late for them.
Most annoying Top 14 news of the week: Crowd noise will return to televised coverage after a week's lockdown silence, as pay-TV channel Canal Plus pipes in recorded crowd sound to the later top-ofthe- table clash between La Rochelle and Clermont.
It will even include matchspecific chants – including “Ici, ici, c'est La Rochelle!” – as it plans a one-match trial of fake sounds to ‘warm the atmosphere' for fans watching on TV.
