The 30 presidents of the Top 14 and ProD2 this week agreed to end the 2019/20 season, leaving a number of questions unanswered.
The hope, now, is to start the 2020/21 season in September but the clubs cannot begin their pre-season planning until a definite start date is confirmed, and medical measures are agreed and met.
Unlike French football, which awarded the coronavirus-curtailed 2019/20 championship to PSG, rugby bosses have decided there will be no title winners for the first time since the Second World War.
There will also be no promotion or relegation – sighs of relief at Stade Francais and Agen, frustration at Colomiers and Perpignan.
Questions remain over European qualification, while six clubs – Toulouse, Clermont, Racing 92, Bordeaux, Castres and Toulon – still have an interest in the currently-on- hold 2019/20 Champions and Challenge Cups.
Coronavirus also hampered moves in the transfer market. French clubs had been relatively quiet, anyway, concentrating on developing homegrown players. Here are the key signings and departures so far.
Rgen
Key signing: Full-back Jean-Marcellin Buttin, who's no mug at centre, wing or fly-half, travels west from Lyon to become the big name among five currently listed new arrivals at Stade Armandie. Still only 28, this particular bold dog has a few tricks left.
Key departure: Fiji international Benito Masilevu is not in the Agen reckoning for next season and joins 14 other players in the departure lounge. No news, yet, on where he could end up.
Bayonne
Key signing: An injury-troubled couple of seasons have seen Gaetan Germain's nearly unmissable howitzer boot track a little left in recent times. But, on his day, he can still ping them over from more than 50m. A useful addition to Yannick Bru's squad.
Key departure: Tongan lock-cum-back- row Edwin Maka should have a few years in him yet, but, after a season on the Basque coast, his future is currently uncertain. He's one of 19 departures from Bayonne this summer – and he's not the only one with nowhere to go.
BordeauH
Key signing: Cheetahs' try-loving hooker Joseph Dweba could turn out to be Bordeaux's signing of the season. An honourable mention, too, for ‘Canes winger Ben Lam among the eight arrivals. Bordeaux, already scary, are going to be terrifying.
Key departure: Semi Radradra – who else? Frankly if he'd opted to stay at Chaban-Delmas rather than head to Bristol it would be best to give Bordeaux next season's Top 14 title and auto-qualify them for the Champions Cup quarters.
Briue
Key signing: Italian Pietro Ceccarelli is a smart signing from Edinburgh. At 28, he's the oldest of the club's five signings to date by five years. It's evolution, not revolution.
Key departure: Joe Snyman. A long- running injury forced the 33-year-old South African lock to call time on his career in December, a couple of years earlier than he would have hoped.
Caslres
Key signing: Uruguay scrum-half Santiago Arata, 23, heads to France with a growing reputation – and the job of, eventually, taking over from marmite nine Rory Kockott. A mention, too, for Canada's Tyler Ardron, who joins from Chiefs to bolster a strong back row.
Key departure: Retirement beckons for 39-year-old Rodrigo Capo Ortega, who is heading into an ambassadorial role with the club he joined 18 years and 400 or so outings ago. He's one of 14 due to leave at the end of the season as Castres rapidly turn down the experience.
Clermont
Key signing: Scoring five tries at the 2019 Rugby World Cup will get you noticed, and Clermont wasted little time making Kotaro Matsushima their big signing. Sebastien Bezy's switch from Toulouse to challenge Morgan Parra for the 9 shirt is also interesting.
Key departure: Nick Abendanon. You could pick any one of the 18 players leaving Clermont this summer. A sharp dip in international player compensation from the FFR has forced Clermont to clip their spending wings, as has the need to slash overseas player numbers.
La Rochelle
Key signing: Giant lock Will Skelton quickly shut up talk about a return to Oz in the aftermath of the Saracens' salary cap scandal, by signing a two-year deal with the French outfit with Super Rugby- style pretentions. More new arrivals are expected.
Key departure: The elusive Vincent Rattez will rejoin former coach Xavier Garbajosa at Montpellier next season. Brock James, who's retiring, is one of nine other departures.
Lyon
Key signing: Some big changes at ambitious Lyon and the return – after a
Covid-19-hit American adventure – of Mathieu Bastareaud is the biggest of them. He's one of eight arrivals so far. President Yann Roubert has promised a couple of surprises to come Key departure: Some big names are on their way out of Lyon, including Carl Fearns and Liam Gill, Sam Higalgo- Clyne and Alexis Palison. But the emblematic Julien Puricelli, whose retirement has long been expected to be fair, will be the biggest miss.
fTlontpellier
Key signing: Cobus Reinach. The South African scrum-half will feel right at home at Montpellier, where he will line up alongside Handre Pollard, Bismarck and Jacques du Plessis, Henry Immelman and Jan Serfontein.
Key departure: Nemani Nadolo. With Aaron Cruden's injury-plagued stint in France already over, the Fijian winger is the biggest name among the 14 to leave the GGL. Leicester have themselves an instant crowd favourite.
Slade Francais
Key signing: Stade have, so far, kept firmly silent on signings for the new season. Just two young loan returnees are so far confirmed – but expect some news in the weeks ahead.
Key departure: There's another clear-out going on at Jean-Bouin – with 15 players going or already gone. Jules Plisson has already shown the Parisians what they're missing. Since heading to La Rochelle in November, he has picked up two Top 14 player of the month titles.
Pau
Key signing: Tough times at Pau, with the financial strain already showing before coronavirus shut down the league. Just two arrivals so far, but signing Rebels' lock Matt Philip is something of a coup, after the form he showed in the early Super Rugby running.
Key departure: Colin Slade quickly became a firm favourite at Stade du Hameau when he joined the club after the 2015 World Cup. It's a shame he won't get the send-off he deserved.
Racing SS
Key signing: So far, Kurtley Beale is the one truly big Top 14 signing. Keeping an eye on the ball if he, Finn Russell and Simon Zebo are on the pitch at the same time will be a nightmare.
Key departure: Two-time Top 14 winner Brice Dulin is the back line casualty of Beale's arrival. He heads to La Rochelle, while prop Ben Tameifuna is also on his way out – this time to beef up already formidable front-row options for Christophe Urios at Bordeaux.
Toulon
Key signing: All change at another club. Just three confirmed signings so far for ex-transfer market mainstays Toulon – and two are academy players. The one who isn't: La Rochelle's wantaway lock Thomas Jolmes. He's teaming up again with former boss Patrice Collazo.
Key departure: After a troubled start to his Toulon career, Julian Savea is probably not too disappointed to be leaving – it's to his immense credit he stuck it out and fought his way into Collazo's thinking. Watch out, too, for news on out-ofcontract old dogs Sergio Parisse and Mamuka Gorgodze.
Toulouse
Key signing: Toulouse president Didier Lacroix has put transfer deals on hold during the Covid-19 crisis – but, assuming it goes ahead, Alex Lozowski's move to Ernest Wallon is a smart one. He would thrive in the fast-and-loose style favoured by Mola and Poitrenaud.
Key departure: Given their championed youth policy, it seems strange that Toulouse would let 23-year-old lock Florian Verhaeghe go, but he's heading to Montpellier next season. A mention, too, for homeward-bound Richie Gray, who was there in the tough times.
