Top 14
This is where you will find all of The Rugby Paper’s Top 14 news, interviews, reports, opinion and other content.
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Top 14
/ 10 hours agoAgeless fly-half still calls the shots
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN WHOEVER said that rugby is a young person’s game clearly never met near-ageless Argentine fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta....
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Miscellaneous
/ 3 weeks agoSadourny told: Get it right this time
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN CASTRES Olympique have spent much of this week busily confirming the new arrivals for the 2026/27 campaign...
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Top 14
/ 4 weeks agoRising Toulouse star injured again
LESS than a month ago, France full-back Pauline Barrat was named breakthrough player of the 2026 Women’s Six Nations. Last weekend,...
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Top 14
/ 4 weeks agoGalthie’s handed selection present
FABIEN Galthie is expected to unveil an initial list of 28 players on Monday, after this weekend’s ‘barrage round’ play-off matches...
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Top 14
/ 2 months agoEdwards will need to boost defence
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Under pressure: France defence coach Shaun Edwards and, inset, Geoffrey Doumayrou, top, and Aurelien Cologni PICTURES: Alamy,...
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Top 14
/ 2 months agoBordeaux need to seal deal for Louis
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TO describe Louis Bielle-Biarrey as hot rugby property is an understatement so criminal it would go straight...
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Top 14
/ 3 months agoCarbonel shows he is still a class act
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN AN 83rd-minute Louis Carbonel penalty handed Stade Francais a 34-32 home win over second-placed Pau at Stade...
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Top 14
/ 3 months agoAzema’s on his way back to Toulon
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TOULON’S search for a head coach to take some of the day-to-day strain off sporting director Pierre...
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Top 14
/ 3 months agoSo, who is your starter at 10, then?
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Top 10s: Matthieu Jalibert, left, and Romain Ntamack PICTURES: Getty Images The latest iteration of the as-old-as-time...
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Top 14
/ 4 months agoWomen keen to join the 6N party
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TWO-THIRDS of the 2026 Six Nations season is complete. It’s old news, but France – Les Bleus...
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Top 14
/ 4 months agoNon-stop season likely to take toll
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TIME and the ever-evolving rugby seasons wait for no one. The final round of the 2026 Six...
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Latest News
/ 4 months agoGalthie’s putting his faith in Tatafu
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The heavy mob: France prop Tevita Tatafu and, below left to right, Uini Atonio, Demba Bamba, Georges-Henri...
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Latest News
/ 4 months agoHealy set to join in O’Gara’s rebuild
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN New man: Ben Healy is heading to La Rochelle from Edinburgh with Antoine Hastoy, Departing PICTURES: Alamy...
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Top 14
/ 5 months agoBayonne battling to find a new way
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Ex-Bayonne coach Gregory Patat PICTURES: Getty Images new way IT MAY be a Top 14 rest week,...
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Latest News
/ 5 months agoPau give youth a chance to shine
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN PAU’S return to this season’s Champions Cup competition for the first time since 2001 was far from...
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Latest News
/ 5 months agoDream team are back in harness
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN THERE should be caveats and codicils – a few provisos, a couple of quid pro quos. But...
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Latest News
/ 5 months agoRecovery is all that matters for Atonio
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN SOMETIMES, this game of rugby that we follow, that we love, that exults and frustrates us in...
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Latest News
/ 6 months agoGalthie’s ready to look at options
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN SIX Nations champions France cut vice captains Gael Fickou and Gregory Alldritt, as well as the country’s...
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Latest News
/ 6 months agoJones is Toulon’s secret weapon
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TOP 14 totem side Toulon delivered a recruitment surprise this past week, arguably the big signing shock...
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Latest News
/ 6 months agoJalibert is pressing his case for recall
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN THERE can be doubt as to the identity of the player of the Top 14 season so...
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Latest News
/ 6 months agoToulouse pulled down by little guys
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN THE second half of the Top 14 season kicked off on the opening weekend of 2026 with...
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Latest News
/ 7 months agoNonstop coverage a treat for TV fans
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Match winner: Joris Segonds kicked the crucial points for Bayonne with the clock in the red PICTURE:...
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Latest News
/ 7 months ago‘Jaminet affair’ is brought to an end
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN AFTER all, a four-point deduction, of which two are suspended, and a 45,000 Euros fine, of which...
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Latest News
/ 7 months agoPerpignan say Reece is joining them – but is he?
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Class act: Sevu Reece runs in a try for New Zealand against Wales last month PICTURE: Getty...
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Latest News
/ 7 months agoRatier in to drive
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Falling short: England beat France in World Cup semi-final PICTURES: Getty Images women’s revival In seven days’...
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Latest News
/ 7 months agoFrance superstar Dupont is back!
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN A little over eight months, or exactly 266 days if you prefer, after he suffered an ACL...
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Latest News
/ 8 months agoPau rise high to cut down Bordeaux
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Pair of aces: Matthieu Jalibert in action for Bordeaux on Friday and, inset, Pau’s tyro No.10 Axel...
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Latest News
/ 8 months agoVunipola happy to stick with Caudullo
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Going strong: Billy Vunipola playing for Montpellier PICTURES: Getty Images REPORTS of Billy Vunipola’s impending Top 14...
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Latest News
/ 8 months agoToulon make up for their rain delay
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Unhappy: La Rochelle boss Ronan O’Gara PICTURE: Getty Images FOR 85 per cent of the Top 14,...
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Club Rugby
/ 8 months agoJack Nowell: I love the challenge in France
A wounded animal is when it is at its most dangerous and La Rochelle intend to right some wrongs from last...
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Latest News
/ 8 months agoPerpignan expected to move for Labit
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Last 10 standing: Perpignan fly-half Tommaso Allan and, inset, Joe Worsley PICTURES: Getty Images EIGHT. That was...
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Latest News
/ 9 months agoLucu is ready to answer the call
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN SCRUM-HALF Maxime Lucu played his first minutes of the season for Bordeaux last night, after rupturing a...
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Latest News
/ 9 months agoPerpignan fighting for life at the basement
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Tough times: Perpignan skipper Jamie Ritchie and, inset, fly-half Tristan Tedder PICTURES: Getty Images IN HIS fifth...
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Latest News
/ 9 months agoGalthie gets set to brief his troops
JAMES HARRINGTON FABIEN Galthie and the France staff met up in person for the first time since the July tour of...
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Latest News
/ 9 months agoGrenoble suffering a week to forget
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN PICTURE: Getty Images GRENOBLE’S 23-24 loss at home to Provence on Friday night was the tin lid...
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Latest News
/ 10 months agoToulon’s Herve on his way to Castres
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TOULON fly-half Enzo Herve is on the move, a few months after he rejected a proposed swap...
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Features
/ 10 months agoHead injuries force Willemse to retire
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN IT has long been expected, but this week – nearly a year after his last appearance on...
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Features
/ 10 months agoReasons to be cheerful at Stade
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Back in favour: Stade Francais fly-half Louis Carbonel PICTURES: Getty Images ONE match does not make a...
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Letters
/ 10 months agoFrench rugby deserves praise regarding scrum laws
French rugby deserves high praise for its brave decision to expose World Rugby’s woeful mismanagement of a key rugby union law....
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Latest News
/ 10 months agoGalthie’s pressing problem up front
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The battle up front: Régis Montagne and, inset top to bottom, Georges-Henri Colombe, Demba Bam-ba, Thomas Laclayat...
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Top 14
/ 11 months agoVannes voted most likely to top ProD2
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN AS SURE as oeufs are oeufs, the end of August coincides with the return of French men’s...
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Columnists
/ 11 months agoFrench Column: Baptiste Jauneau and Lenni Nouchi to stay where they are
Last weekend, the futures of two of France's most sought-after young stars was a major topic of conversation. Montpellier flanker Lenni...
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Latest News
/ 11 months agoTuifua is keeping quiet on his plans
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Young talent: Patrick Tuifua in action for Hawke’s Bay PICTURE: Getty Images IN February 2024, the name...
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Latest News
/ 11 months agoTime for France
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN IT’S HOT in France right now. Very hot. Weather alerts were issued for the entire southern half...
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Latest News
/ 11 months agoRacing 92 banking on youth strategy
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Moving in at No.10: Ugo Seunes has joined Racing 92 and could be the signing of the...
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James Harrington
/ 12 months agoFrench Column: Ten players who could hit the spot in ProD2
It's high summer in France – not that you’d necessarily know it given the weather over recent days, which has been...
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James Harrington
/ 12 months agoFrench Colummn: Bayonne in the fast lane for No.9 Leo Coly
It was mid-August last year – the 13th, to be precise – when Racing 92 suddenly confirmed their highly rated and,...
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Columnists
/ 12 months agoFrench Column: Top c14 lubs getting back in the swing
The Top 14 final brought the curtain down on the 2024/25 French rugby season just 15 days ago, with Toulouse lifting...
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Columnists
/ 1 year agoFrench Column: Mystery surronds Uzair Cassiem’s future
One-time Scarlets and Springbok back row Uzair Cassiem is at the centre of a transfer storm in France. The 35-year-old knew...
Junior International Rugby
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