JAMES HARRINGTON
FRENCH COLUMN

Cheslin Kolbe’s midcontract switch from Toulouse to Toulon raised a few eyebrows in France. The deal itself is not a problem – nevermind the clear disgust of La Rochelle’s Jonathan Danty, who described it as, ‘a shame’ and said it ‘tarnishes the image of the players’.
Danty’s views are at the harsh end of the spectrum – Kolbe and Toulouse were heading inexorably towards a divorce, anyway, and all parties decided a quick break would be less painful than a drawn-out parting of the ways.
And the...