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Tag: James Harrington

JIFF looks likely to play a vital role

21 April 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON – FRENCH COLUMN It’s logical – as the final stop-start sprint in a hard-fought Top 14 season begins – to think purely in […]

Biarritz’s future is back in its hands

14 April 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN To the relief of fans, white smoke was finally seen over the stand tops of Biarritz’s Parc des Sports d’Aguilera recently, […]

TV deal to break €500m barrier

7 April 2024 0 comments

FRENCH COLUMN – JAMES HARRINGTON France’s Ligue Nationale de Rugby hopes to pocket more than half-a-billion euros, after launching a call for tenders for Top […]

Toulon will have to wait for Carbonel

1 April 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN LOUIS Carbonel’s immediate Top 14 future is in Montpellier. The question is: for how long? The Toulon-born fly-half has been the […]

Toulon heading in right direction

24 March 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TOULON coach Pierre Mignoni earned something of a reprieve this weekend, as his side’s 54-7 win over Montpellier at Stade Mayol […]

Toulouse and Stade in line for a race to glory

17 March 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The top two tiers of French domestic rugby have been on hiatus this weekend, giving fans a clear run at the […]

Oyonnax have to keep on believing

10 March 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Oyonnax manager Joe El-Abd promised last week that his side would ‘fight to the end’ following their so-near-so-far 35-39 home defeat […]

Big clubs are hit by ‘doublon’ clashes

3 March 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN We always knew the World Cup would play havoc with the Top 14 season – as soon as the 2023/2024 schedule […]

Big two leading charge

3 March 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON STADE Francais and reigning champions Toulouse look set to continue their twohorse race for top spot with both victorious this weekend. Paris-based Stade […]

Collazo may risk all to beat the drop

25 February 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN It is a truth universally accepted in French domestic rugby that the side propping up the Top 14 at Christmas is […]

Toulon need to win over the critics

18 February 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Sometimes it’s not immediately obvious whether a side is in good shape or not. A simple look at the Top 14 […]

Calvet’s likely to step in at Agen

11 February 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN France Under-20s coach Sebastien Calvet has emerged as favourite to replace Bernard Goutta on the conveyor-belt of managers at ProD2 side […]

Davidson relief as Castres stop rot

4 February 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The afternoon after the Friday-night chastening Six Nations defeat in Marseille before, a subdued French rugby audience tuned in to the […]

Galthie looking for mix of renewal and continuity

28 January 2024 0 comments

Six Nations team-by-team previews: France James Harrington anticipates an Era of Expectation from the side who stalled at the World Cup Fracncehead coach Fabien Galthie […]

Lyon get it right against Perpignan

28 January 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON In a league featuring the likes of Racing 92 and Toulouse, Toulon and La Rochelle, Bordeaux and Stade Francais, there’s a ‘big match’ […]

Lucu the man to replace Dupont

21 January 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN An email drop and social media flurry confirmed the line-up of France’s 34-player training squad for the Six Nations, which kicks […]

No rush to get Tuilagi involved

14 January 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Something of a big deal was made last week about the fact that, a matter of days before Fabien Galthie announces […]

Farrell’s future the only talk in town…

7 January 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Fabien Galthie will have a reduced training squad for the 2024 Six Nations after a player release agreement was reached between […]

Simmonds is facing a fight for survival

31 December 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN THE final weekend of 2023 – and we’re almost at the halfway point of the Top 14 season. There’s still a […]

O’Gara’s problems keep on coming

24 December 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Australian hooker Tolu Latu went straight into La Rochelle’s matchday squad for pre-Christmas trip to Stade Francais, days after completing a […]

Olympics causing financial headache

17 December 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The new cycle of French senior men’s rugby starts here – a month-and-a-half after the 2023 Rugby World Cup ended, and […]

Davies enjoying life in a new lake

10 December 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN SWAPPING Dragons for a new challenge at Grenoble – and the lens of Welsh rugby for relative anonymity in southeast France […]

Laporte & Co hit the panic button

3 December 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN A week after ripping out their coaching set-up and employing an Etch-a-Sketch style reset to their season, Montpellier officially hit the […]

Cockerill goes out, Collazo comes in

26 November 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TIME was very firmly called on Richard Cockerill’s brief run as Montpellier manager six days ago, after just five months and […]

Welsh warrior bows out in style

19 November 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Rugby – even thoroughly modern professional rugby – sometimes proves it still has at least a little room for a smidgeon […]

Clermont claim first away win with Urios

12 November 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The smile on Christophe Urios’s face said it all, as his Clermont side ended a year-long losing streak on the road […]

Biarritz are left sweating on future

2 July 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN By the time you read this, ProD2 side Biarritz were supposed to be under new management after a deal finally brought […]

Garbajosa joins list of axed coaches

18 June 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN It has been a busy week in various corridors of power in French rugby – with, in chronological order, the removal […]

Try something new and imaginative

11 June 2023 0 comments

JAMES Harrington reports that the average gate in the French top flight this season was 14,841, with Bordeaux topping the list at 28,216. Peter Jackson […]

Top two get set to put on the glitz

11 June 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN It’s the final the Top 14 wanted and needed. Toulouse and La Rochelle – the two best sides in the French […]

I’m off to the farm after this, says Jessy

19 March 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN France have had a quietly dramatic week in the lead-up to the Women’s Six Nations, which kicks off for Les Bleues […]

Time is running out for Castres

19 February 2023 2 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Pierre-Yves Revol, president of Top 14 strugglers Castres, was in no mood to mince his words this week as he laid […]

Gibbes given his marching orders after Tigers mauling

22 January 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Christophe Urios will take charge at Top 14 side Clermont on Monday, after the “breathing space” afforded his predecessor Jono Gibbes […]

Toulouse will take title, say coaches

4 September 2022 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Toulouse will win the Top 14 title at the end of another tight season – according to a survey of the […]

Fofana, one of the stars of 2006, to bow out

24 July 2022 1 comment

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Clermont star Wesley Fofana this week became the latest Top 14 player to join the annual line of those permanently signing […]

Galthie in no rush to sign up his coaches

3 July 2022 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON – FRENCH COLUMN FFR President Bernard Laporte was ready to offer Les Bleus’ head coach Fabien Galthie a new, extended contract if he […]

Toulon must do their maths to avoid points deduction

17 April 2022 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TOULON’S end-ofseason run-in – and their points total for next season – may be complicated by JIFF rules. Under current rules, […]

Peace at Biarritz as row starts in Bayonne

14 November 2021 2 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Top 14 side Biarritz look set to remain where they belong – in the heart of the Basque Country – following […]

Council steps in to take care of Beziers after Emirati takeover collapse | James Harrington

15 August 2021 1 comment

Thirteen months ago, you probably recall, a proposed mega-money takeover of French ProD2 side Béziers dominated the rugby headlines on the French side of the […]

Pau-bound Daniel Ikpefan braves the crossover | James Harrington

1 August 2021 2 comments

After falling out of favour at Toulon, Ikpefan gets a shot at starring elsewhere in the Top 14 at Pau

Can French ‘third string’ spring more surprises? | James Harrington

4 July 2021 3 comments

Against seemingly evermounting coronavirus odds, France’s July tour of Australia is still set for Test takeoff – it may not quite have passed the abort […]

Double delight for pragmatic Toulouse | James Harrington

27 June 2021 0 comments

Toulouse were crowned champions of France for the 21st time on Friday night, some 13 months after the players had first gathered for a […]

Toulouse keep their‘ double’ dream alive with La Rochelle rematch | James Harrington

20 June 2021 1 comment

Friday’s 2020/21 season Top 14 final will be a repeat of last month’s blood-and-thunder Champions Cup showpiece, after both La Rochelle and Toulouse won their […]

Harmony at Toulouse is music to Kaino’s ears | James Harrington

11 April 2021 1 comment

Earlier this week, both Toulouse and Clermont head coaches insisted that their sides are underdogs for today’s Champions Cup quarter-final at Stade Marcel Michelin. Regardless […]

Biarritz explore options far and wide | James Harrington

21 March 2021 0 comments

With signings Steffon Armitage and Henry Speight in the fold, ProD2 Biarritz are poised to launch a promotion bid this season. But simmering tensions lie under the club’s hierachy

Former Wallabies head coach Michael Cheika

All change for coaches as Cheika stands by | James Harrington

7 February 2021 0 comments

Top 14 club owners plan big coaching changes, with Michael Cheika under consideration by Montpellier president Mohed Altrad

Italy 10-50 France: Antoine Dupont the star again as France run in seven

7 February 2021 1 comment

James Harrington reports on a destructive attacking performance by France in Rome, fired by all-action No.9 Dupont

Lacroix: We’ll get Euro Cups done | James Harrington

12 January 2021 1 comment

James Harrington reports on what is next for Top 14 clubs after the French government called to the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup

Four or five clubs may not survive the fan ban

8 November 2020 1 comment

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Bad news: Toulouse flanker Jerome Kaino left the field injured Financial matters continue to top the agenda for France’s Top 14 […]