Brits abroad

[francoisfou]

Is Sam Simmonds playing flanker a lot more now he’s at Montpellier?

I think he's had some game time at flanker but principally as back-up to Billy V.

Binny at flanker?

No, Simmonds!

[francoisfou]

Quins’ Irne Herbst and Tigers’ Jamie Shillcock have both signed a two-year contract with Brive, currently 3rd in ProD2 and are pushing for an end of season playoff place for promotion to the Top14.

[FKAS]

Quins’ Irne Herbst and Tigers’ Jamie Shillcock have both signed a two-year contract with Brive, currently 3rd in ProD2 and are pushing for an end of season playoff place for promotion to the Top14.

They've announced quite a few signings in quite an arty video.

https://x.com/CABCLRUGBY/status/1902020050627764445

The marketing team over in Brive clearly having some fun.

[francoisfou]

Quins’ Irne Herbst and Tigers’ Jamie Shillcock have both signed a two-year contract with Brive, currently 3rd in ProD2 and are pushing for an end of season playoff place for promotion to the Top14.

They've announced quite a few signings in quite an arty video.

https://x.com/CABCLRUGBY/status/1902020050627764445

The marketing team over in Brive clearly having some fun.

Yes, it’s quite innovative, isn’t it!

[francoisfou]

Ulster scrum half John Cooney has also signed a two-year contract with Brive.
At the age of 35 it's a fine move towards the end of his playing career.

[francoisfou]

Round 19 of the Top14 takes place tomorrow and Sunday in which the Simmonds brothers will be in opposing sides;

Toulon - 6 Lewis Ludlum, 5 Dave Ribbans (c), 21 Ben White
Perpignan

La Rochelle - 14 Jack Nowell
Castres - 3 Will Collier

Clermont
Racing - 10 Dan Lancaster, 15 Sam James, 21 Owen Farrell

Stade Français - 13 Joe Marchant, 10 Zack Henry
Bayonne - 12 Manu Tuilagi, 5 Alex Moon

Pau - 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Dan Robson
Montpellier - 8 Sam Simmonds

Bordeaux/Bègles - Sunday evening match and the teams are yet to be announced
Toulouse

[francoisfou]

Joe Simmonds' Pau beat brother Sam's Montpellier 40-38 in a ding-dong match that was won with a last minute drop goal by Joe who finished with 18 points and a 100% success with penalties and conversions.
He's now the runaway points scorer in the Top14 with 219, 39 ahead of his nearest rival.
There have been rumours that Leicester would like to sign Joe, but he has a contract with Pau until 2028, and Pau is maybe just a more attractive place to live than Leicester!

Jack Willis captains Toulouse, whose Test players are rested, away to Bordeaux/Bègles on Sunday evening, who have selected the majority of theirs.

[p/d]

So good to hear Joe continues to impress.

[francoisfou]

Round 20 of the Top14 takes place tomorow and Sunday.

Toulouse - 11 Blair Kinghorn, 20 Jack Willis (Ange Capuozzo will be replacement scrum half in Dupont's absence)
Pau - 10 Joe Simmonds. 21 Dan Robson, 20 Joel Kpoku

Bayonne - 12 Manu Tuilagi, 18 Alex Moon
Lyon

Castres - 23 Will Collier
Toulon - 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Ben White(c), 23 Kyle Sinckler, and (20 Ma'a Nonu who'll be 43 next month, has been signed as a medical joker)

Montpellier - 10 Stuart Hogg, 8 Billy Vunipola(c), 19 Sam Simmonds
Stade Français - 13 Joe Marchant, 21 Zack Henry

Vannes - 17 Mako Vunipola, 20 Stephen Varney
Perpignan - 3 Kieran Brookes

Racing v Bordeaux/Bègles is on Sunday evening and the teams are yet to be announced.

[Mellsblue]

Brilliant little fact about Ma’a Nonu’s appearance:

https://x.com/pauleddison/status/190566 ... MV3j-SK8yQ

[francoisfou]

Brilliant little fact about Ma’a Nonu’s appearance:

https://x.com/pauleddison/status/190566 ... MV3j-SK8yQ

Indeed !

[francoisfou]

Racing v Bordeaux /Bègles is this evening.
Dan Lancaster starts at 10 for Racing and Owen Farrell has to be content with a place on the bench.

[Captainhaircut]

Kpoku seems to be out of favour with Joseph playing in the row. Hopefully he’s signed with an English club and is getting the Arundell treatment.

[francoisfou]

Some bad news for Pau is that one of their key players, Joe Simmonds, current leading points scorer in the Top14, will be absent for maybe a couple of months having broken a foot during last weekend's match at Toulouse.
The club have had their sights on an end-of-season playoff place and also qualification for next season's Champions' Cup.

[Stom]

Brilliant little fact about Ma’a Nonu’s appearance:

https://x.com/pauleddison/status/190566 ... MV3j-SK8yQ

What is up with the subs' numbers? Sinckler 23, Nonu 20...

[Mikey Brown]

I thought all the French teams revolted against the additional prop and just plonked them at 23.

Incredible to see Nonu still going. Converted to backrow maybe?

[Danno]

I thought all the French teams revolted against the additional prop and just plonked them at 23.

Incredible to see Nonu still going. Converted to backrow maybe?

Seemed to be 13 but I've only seen this reel

[you-tube][/you-tube]

[Puja]

I thought all the French teams revolted against the additional prop and just plonked them at 23.

Incredible to see Nonu still going. Converted to backrow maybe?

Seemed to be 13 but I've only seen this reel

[you-tube][/you-tube]

That video reaches a standard of wanking off over limited game actions that I haven't seen since [Redacted] came over to union and people were trying to draw up highlight packages of him being mildly competent in his first appearance off the bench. Were those three touches of the ball really worth making a whole video over?!

That being said, I hope he does well. He was terrible in the MLR final and his errors arguably lost the game for San Diego, and it would've been a sad end if that'd been his last game.

Puja

[Danno]

I thought all the French teams revolted against the additional prop and just plonked them at 23.

Incredible to see Nonu still going. Converted to backrow maybe?

Seemed to be 13 but I've only seen this reel

[you-tube][/you-tube]

That video reaches a standard of wanking off over limited game actions that I haven't seen since [Redacted] came over to union and people were trying to draw up highlight packages of him being mildly competent in his first appearance off the bench. Were those three touches of the ball really worth making a whole video over?!

That being said, I hope he does well. He was terrible in the MLR final and his errors arguably lost the game for San Diego, and it would've been a sad end if that'd been his last game.

Puja

Haha. Not entirely fair given that Nonu is 43 and [Redacted] was in his prime back then.

Nice try assist anyways

[Mikey Brown]

I thought all the French teams revolted against the additional prop and just plonked them at 23.

Incredible to see Nonu still going. Converted to backrow maybe?

Seemed to be 13 but I've only seen this reel

[you-tube][/you-tube]

That video reaches a standard of wanking off over limited game actions that I haven't seen since [Redacted] came over to union and people were trying to draw up highlight packages of him being mildly competent in his first appearance off the bench. Were those three touches of the ball really worth making a whole video over?!

That being said, I hope he does well. He was terrible in the MLR final and his errors arguably lost the game for San Diego, and it would've been a sad end if that'd been his last game.

Puja

Shame to hear either way, not that I paid much attention to the league. Seemed like a bit of a cult hero over there.

[francoisfou]

From RugbyPass:

Former England prop Perry Freshwater will be on the move in the Top 14 at the end of this season, with a French media story claiming he will swap Perpignan for a stint with Paul Gustard’s Stade Francais.

L’Equipe have reported that scrum coach Freshwater, the ex-Leicester front-rower who won the 2009 Top 14 with Perpignan as a player, is poised to leave the Catalan club for a Parisian adventure.

Freshwater, who debuted for England in 2005, began his post-playing career helping English-speaking players to settle at Perpignan but has been in charge of the club’s scrum since 2016. That will change, though, next summer.

[francoisfou]

Round 26 (of 30) of ProD2 is played this evening and tomorrow evening:

Provence - 13 George North, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 6 Teimana Harrison
Bèziers - 15 Harry Glynn

Nice
Biarritz - 14 Zach Kibirige

Agen - 9 Jack Maunder, 5 John Madigan
Brive - 7 Courtney Lawes, 10 Stuart Olding

Jonny May's not been in the Angoulême side for a few games. maybe injured?

These are the clubs who'll probably be in the mix for the end of season playoffs for promotion to the Top14:

1 Grenoble 84 points
2 Brive 76
3 Provence 72
4 Angoulême 70
5 Colomiers 68
6 Béziers 68
7 Montauban 64

[francoisfou]

Henry Purdy, Jack Maunder and John Madigan are in Agen’s starting XV in this evening’s ProD2 fixture away to Colomiers, for whom Brett Herron is a replacement.

[francoisfou]

Will Collier (33 years old) has just signed a one-season extension to his contract with Castres, having clearly made the number 3 shirt his own.
He's played sixteen matches this season in the Top14 and Champions' Cup, of which fourteen were in the starting XV, despite being absent injured for two months.
His club are currently 5th in the Top14 and will most probably make the end of season playoffs.
He'll undoubtedly be in the Castres starting XV for tomorrow afternoon's Top14 match against Toulouse at the 33,000 capacity Stadium that's already sold out

Here he is pictured with the former, and more than formidable Castres and France prop Gérard Cholley (31caps between 1975/79), of whom the older members of this forum will remember.

https://castres-olympique.com/wp-conten ... 24x683.jpg

[fivepointer]

Collier's a damn fine prop. No surprise he's done well in France.

Cholley was a real hardman. Former paratrooper, i think?