Top 14

Club Rugby
/ 11 months ago

‘Je ne regrette rien’: Lewis Ludlam loving life at Toulon

Lewis Ludlam insists he will return to Northampton one day but has no regrets about leaving the town or England behind...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 11 months ago

Fabien Galthie’s Six Nations dilemma: Who gets the vote at 10?

French Column - By James Harrington There are bigger rugby weeks to come in 2025, but the Wednesday between January’s twin...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 11 months ago

Stuart Lancaster looks like he will hang on

French Column, By James Harrington In the end, after weeks of speculation, chairman Laurent Travers will leave Racing 92 at the...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Top 14
/ 12 months ago

Bouscatel looks like he will run again

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN ADVENT tensions rather than goodwill in the corridors of French rugby power in the week leading up...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Top 14
/ 12 months ago

Bouscatel looks like he will run again

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN ADVENT tensions rather than goodwill in the corridors of French rugby power in the week leading up...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Top 14
/ 12 months ago

Bouscatel looks like he will run again

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN ADVENT tensions rather than goodwill in the corridors of French rugby power in the week leading up...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 12 months ago

Oyonnax must live without Joe El-Abd

By James Harrington Oyonnax’s seven-try 53-10 bonus-point win over ProD2 rivals Soyaux-Angouleme on Friday – their first victory since October 25...

By The Rugby Paper Team
International Rugby
/ 12 months ago

France won’t play All Blacks in USA

French Column - By James Harrington The FFR has rejected a proposal from New Zealand to relocate the third Test of...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Stade are heading in right direction Racing

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN IS there an early winter equivalent to the idiom about solitary swallows and the impending arrival of...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Sadourny gets nod to replace Davidson

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Hat-trick man: Toulon wing Gael Drean runs in to score against Bayonne PICTURE: Getty Images IN April...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Club Rugby
/ 1 year ago

Anyanwu heads the list of star attractions

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TOP 14 transfer speculation is always thoroughly entertaining, and this season has – so far – been...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Galthie turns his sights to the future

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Not wanted: Charles Ollivon has been omitted from the France squad by coach Fabien Galthie PICTURES Getty...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Maverick Jalibert makes his case

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN HOW do you solve a problem like Matthieu Jalibert? The 25-year-old Bordeaux fly-half is, undoubtedly, one of...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Gustard needs to get Stade rocking

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN THE November break cannot come quickly enough for Stade Francais, no matter what happens against Clermont in...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Columnists
/ 1 year ago

Manu Tuilagi makes mark for Bayonne

French Column, by James Harrington While the focus of French rugby attention is on Stade Ernest Wallon and the return to...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Stade get back into winning routine

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN WHEN does a bad start become a crisis? For Stade Francais it was the morning after last...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Magnificent Sam Marques deserves place at the top table

The splendid Samuel Marques – 35 but still going strong and mulling coming out of international retirement – has been declared...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Top 14
/ 1 year ago

Galthie’s plans will need a re-think

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN FOUR weeks into the Top 14 season and six weeks out from France’s opening Autumn Nations Series...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Top 14
/ 1 year ago

Frisch in mood to impress Galthie

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Ambitious: Antoine Frisch is keen to make a mark in the international setup PICTURE: Getty Images ONE-TIME...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 1 year ago

Henry Chavancy notches No. 400 for Racing 92

French Column - By James Harrington Racing 92’s veteran centre Henry Chavancy reached a remarkable career milestone on Saturday when he...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Stuart Lancaster: Owen Farrell will be key to Racing 92 Success

Racing 92 head coach Stuart Lancaster believes that Owen Farrell’s development over the last decade will be key to the Parisians’...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Top 14
/ 1 year ago

Castres steal it in dramatic late show

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The big kick-off: Henry Arundell scored Racing’s first try of the season but it was not a...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Bayonne centre Manu Tuilagi to miss start of season

Manu Tuilagi will miss the start of the upcoming Top 14 season for new club Bayonne after breaking his hand.

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Brive get one over title rivals Oyonnax

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN PICTURES: Getty Images Impressive debut: Courtney Lawes playing for Brive against Oyonnax. Inset, Jonny May COURTNEY Lawes...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Manu Tuilagi suffers broken hand in pre-season game for new club Bayonne

Tuilagi has suffered more injury woe after he swapped England for France. Former England centre Manu Tuilagi will have to wait...

By The Rugby Paper Team
British and Irish Lions
/ 1 year ago

Farrell in danger of being lost in France

Jeremy Guscott Outspoken and unmissable... Every week Finn Russell’s statement about how much he’d like to reunite with Owen Farrell for...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 1 year ago

Carbonel will add the flair for Stade

James Harrington French column Last season, Stade Francais finished second in the Top 14 to qualify directly for the semi-finals –...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Racing 92 confirm Le Garrec is leaving

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN On the move: Scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec will be joining La Rochelle PICTURE: Getty Images YES, it’s...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Mehrtens reported to lead group out to buy Beziers

JAMES HARRINGTON LESS than two weeks before the new ProD2 season kicks off, overseas buyers have officially submitted a bid to...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Jaminet appeals against long ban

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN FRANCE international Melvyn Jaminet is to appeal against a 34- week suspension and €30,000 fine imposed by...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

14 poised to hit the ground running

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN One to watch: Owen Farrell is the next in a long line of big-name internationals who have...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 1 year ago

Vannes facing a tough early test

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Promoted ProD2 winners Vannes will kick off their first-ever season in the Top 14 at home against...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 1 year ago

Time for players to behave properly

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN There are no ‘good’ responses to Melvyn Jaminet’s violently racist outburst on social media, or the serious...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 year ago

There’s more than money to Toulouse

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER There have, rightly, been acres of words written...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 1 year ago

Jalibert is top of the ‘wanted’ list again

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Never mind that the words ‘Stade Toulousain’ have only just been meticulously punched into the plaque on...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 1 year ago

Terrific Toulouse go on the rampage

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN “We didn’t just lose the arm wrestle – we had our wrists broken under the table,” Bordeaux...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Latest News
/ 1 year ago

Ntamack makes sure for Toulouse

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN RONAN O’Gara must be wondering what he has to do for his La Rochelle side to beat...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Club Rugby
/ 1 year ago

Carbonel winner ensures last-gasp Montpellier survival

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN THE English Football League’s Championship play-off final is sometimes referred to as ‘the richest game in football’,...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 1 year ago

Hogg has eyes set on Top 14 surprise

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Stuart Hogg’s reported surprise reverse-ferret back into the professional game after his retirement last year – and...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Top 14
/ 2 years ago

Cholley has cast his fearsome shadow over Castres

Castres have reinforced their position as the most red-carded of clubs, a fact unlikely to surprise those who remember their most...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 2 years ago

Gopperth misses out on top flight

FRENCH COLUMN By JAMES HARRINGTON Jimmy Gopperth won’t be the oldest-ever player to feature in the Top 14 next season after...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 2 years ago

TV deal hits the €700m jackpot

By JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Jeroboams of champagne all round at Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) headquarters earlier this week, after...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 2 years ago

Dramatic finale puts Brive into play-offs

By JAMES HARRINGTON The ProD2 supplied a final glorious regular-season round for the ages in a perfectly timed reminder to broadcasters...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Peter Jackson
/ 2 years ago

Davies the leading light in Welsh quartet

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Four international fly-halves took flight from Wales last year, understandably so given the...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 2 years ago

I may sell Toulon for €1 – Lemaitre

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN A matter of weeks after ProD2 strugglers Biarritz were sold for €1, Toulon owner Bernard Lemaitre suggested...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 2 years ago

Biarritz’s fight for survival goes on

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Ten days ago, under-new-management ProD2 strugglers Biarritz gave themselves what looked a lot like a crucial safety...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 2 years ago

Record crowds flock to matches

JAMES HARRINGTON - FRENCH COLUMN More people than ever are flocking through the turnstiles of Top 14 and ProD2 matches, according...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Top 14
/ 2 years ago

I’m loving every single minute

Mark Stevens finds former Exeter Chiefs playmaker Joe Simmonds enjoying his new life in France In the picturesque town of Pau...

By The Rugby Paper Team
James Harrington
/ 2 years ago

JIFF looks likely to play a vital role

JAMES HARRINGTON - FRENCH COLUMN It's logical – as the final stop-start sprint in a hard-fought Top 14 season begins –...

By The Rugby Paper Team
Chris Hewett
/ 2 years ago

We need Biarrtitz back to their best

SERGE Blanco, the finest full-back ever to grace the union game, spent his entire club career at Biarritz. So did the...

By The Rugby Paper Team