Brits abroad

[francoisfou]

Joe Worsley is said to be about to become the new defence coach of the sinking ship Perpignan in the Top14. Played 8 lost 8 and nul points are the gloomy stats that he’ll already be aware of.
He’s made of stern stuff but the odds on survival in the Top14 are short, so good luck to him.

He's highly rated as a coach, so it'll be interesting to see if he can make a material difference there.

Puja

Worsley has been in France since 2012 and has coached UBB (x2), Castres and more recently, Brive in ProD2 for their big push to regain their place in the Top14, but that fell embarrassingly short last season losing a semifinal at home to the unfancied Montauban. This season in ProD2 hasn’t exactly been going to plan having only won 4 out of 8 and Brive are currently only in 7th place.
And at Perpignan he’s got his work cut out, which could make or break his career.

[francoisfou]

Another English coach here in France is looking for a job.
After having had spells as coach with England, UBB, Racing and Gloucester, Rory Teague has just been relieved of his duties as head coach of Béziers in ProD2, a post that he was appointed to earlier this year.
The older members of Rugby Rebels will remember Béziers as a club that dominated French rugby in the 70s and 80s having won 11 Top14 titles, based on a fearsome pack who took no prisoners.
Like Brive, Béziers have ambitions to get back into the Top14, ( they were relegated after the 2004/5 season and have struggled to regain their glory years), and are wallowing in 12th place having only won 3 of their 8 matches so far this season.
Other big clubs from the past are finding life tough in the lower divisions - Biarritz, Dax, Mont de Marsan, Lourdes, Narbonne and Bourgoin are among them.

[Mikey Brown]

It's ok, nobody cares

I feel like you ought to clarify that with "about Nathan Hughes", rather than giving the implication that you're including all of francoisfou's endeavours in that!

Astounded that Racing are looking to move away from being fancy dan lightweight fripperies and have decided their best route to doing that is signing Nathan Hughes.

Puja

To be honest Puja I’d rather have Nathan in the England 8 jersey than the threadbare options we’ve got at our disposal this Saturday!

He is certainly taller and heavier than Earl, there’s no denying that.

[FKAS]

Billy Vunipola is messing Montpellier around with the proposed contract renewal, rumours Red Bulls have offered him a route back to the Prem.

[jngf]

I feel like you ought to clarify that with "about Nathan Hughes", rather than giving the implication that you're including all of francoisfou's endeavours in that!

Astounded that Racing are looking to move away from being fancy dan lightweight fripperies and have decided their best route to doing that is signing Nathan Hughes.

Puja

To be honest Puja I’d rather have Nathan in the England 8 jersey than the threadbare options we’ve got at our disposal this Saturday!

He is certainly taller and heavier than Earl, there’s no denying that.

…and can carry a rugby ball through a substance of greater molecular density than fresh air

[Mikey Brown]

To be honest Puja I’d rather have Nathan in the England 8 jersey than the threadbare options we’ve got at our disposal this Saturday!

He is certainly taller and heavier than Earl, there’s no denying that.

…and can carry a rugby ball through a substance of greater molecular density than fresh air

Must have been a real stiff breeze that day.

I’m no Earl fanboy but I think you’re making statements based purely on physical attributes again.

[jngf]

He is certainly taller and heavier than Earl, there’s no denying that.

…and can carry a rugby ball through a substance of greater molecular density than fresh air

Must have been a real stiff breeze that day.

I’m no Earl fanboy but I think you’re making statements based purely on physical attributes again.

As in so many things in rugby physical attributes are pretty fundamental are they not and doubly so with ball carrying? ( though I appreciate the great play from Faf there ).

[Mikey Brown]

The difference between physical attributes and actual impact on the pitch in a game is what I’m getting at. Do you actually watch Nathan Hughes play and see him being a dominant carrier in the Willis (or Billy Vunipola) mould?

[jngf]

The difference between physical attributes and actual impact on the pitch in a game is what I’m getting at. Do you actually watch Nathan Hughes play and see him being a dominant carrier in the Willis (or Billy Vunipola) mould?

You’ve picked one isolated example to characterise a player - by contrast I’ve rarely seen Ben Earl ever get over the gain line in heavy traffic from the back of a scrum in any test outing where he’s played no.8. I like Earl as a player but think he adds much more value as an openside than no.8 - In fact I’d be happy to move Underhill to 6 to accommodate him there. The fact England are going into a test match without a heavy carrier undermines all the hype about our strength in depth in the backrow imo

[Mikey Brown]

Like I said I’m not an Earl fanboy particularly. I do think we lack a heavy carrier in the Willis mould, but Earl has generally done far better than expected in the 8 shirt for England.

I was just asking when you’ve actually seen Hughes dominate tight exchanges at the top level? It might happen for Earl less than we’d like, but I don’t remember ever seeing it from Hughes despite the height/weight on his top trumps card.

[jngf]

Like I said I’m not an Earl fanboy particularly. I do think we lack a heavy carrier in the Willis mould, but Earl has generally done far better than expected in the 8 shirt for England.

I was just asking when you’ve actually seen Hughes dominate tight exchanges at the top level? It might happen for Earl less than we’d like, but I don’t remember ever seeing it from Hughes despite the height/weight on his top trumps card.

To be honest I’m not pretending that Nathan is in that Vunipola wrecking ball mode ( despite physique ) but I do think he’s more powerful than Earl - probably on a level with Dombrandt or Chick but with a bit less flair than the former and more pace than the latter. Felt a bit sorry for Hughes and for that matter Simmonds and other’s given no.8 shirt during Jones’ era as the way England played left all the carrying duties to the no.8 so that flanks could focus exclusively on fetching and defence. I do think England have progressed since that period by enabling the flanks to contribute more to the attacking side either through carrying or running in open channels

[francoisfou]

Edit - Yet another senior moment when I posted that Nathan Hughes hadn't been selected by Toulon - because in fact he plays for Racing , and is indeed in Racing's team in this evening's closing match of round 9.

Toulon - 6 Lewis Ludlam, 4 Dave Ribbans, 21 Ben White, 23 Kyle Sinckler. No Zach Mercer either but 43 year-old Ma'a Nonu starts at 12.
Lyon - 8 Sam Simmonds

Montpellier - 10 the return of Stuart Hogg, 8 Billy Vunipola, 4 Adam Beard. No Ali Price (injured)
Clermont - No Brits in Clermont - yet, but SF's Zack Henry is rumoured to be heading there next season.

Pau - 16 Julien Montoya (his second appearance for his new club). Dan Robson and Joe Simmonds are injured
Perpignan - 6 Jamie Ritchie. No Kieran Brookes (maybe rested as his winless side have no chance away to 3rd placed Pau)

Bayonne - 12 Manu Tuilagi. No Alex Moon(injured), 18 Ewan Johnson. Gareth Anscombe not selected.
Montauban

Castres - 3 Will Collier
Bordeaux/Bègles - 5 Jonny Gray, 10 Joey Carberry

Toulouse - 15 Blair Kinghorn, 6 Jack Willis
Stade Français - No Joe Marchant (don't know why) or Zack Henry (injured). Head coach Paul Gustard's doing a good job as his side are level on points with Toulouse at the top of the table.

La Rochelle - 14 Jack Nowell
Racing - 4 Jonny Hill, 5 Will Rowlands,8 Nathan Hughes,15 Sam James

[FKAS]

Good to see Paul Gustard going well. Real shame Tigers couldn't poach him but Parling seems a good alternative.

I can imagine Zack Henry doing a good job at Clermont but can't feel it'll be a missed opportunity for Bristol. He's a Bristolian who would fit the Bears style of play perfectly at a time they are probably looking for a MacGinty replacement.

[francoisfou]

Honorary Brit, Jimmy Gopperth, has decided that it's the time to retire. 526 matches over 23 years is quite an achievement!

Here's the article in Midi Olympique/Rugbyrama:
https://www.rugbyrama.fr/2025/11/01/tra ... 027992.php

[francoisfou]

There's one Top14 match tomorrow, Toulon v La Rochelle, that was originally postponed in September due to a thunderstorm:

Toulon - 9 Ben White, 5 Dave Ribbans, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 8 Zach Mercer
La Rochelle - Jack Nowell not selected


ProD2 round 10:

Biarritz
Agen - 5 John Madigan (ex Munster), 10 Craig Willis (ex Falcons and Ealing)

Dax - 4 Charlie Matthews (ex Quins) , 3 Nephi Leatigaga (ex Tigers)
Carcassonne - 6 Gary Graham (ex Falcons and Scotland), 10 Jonny McPhilips

Nevers
Vannes - 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Dave Cherry, 19 Sione Kalamafoni

[FKAS]

I saw O'Gara had thrown his toys out the pram over the rescheduled game. Wasn't a happy bunny with having the two week break interrupted (maybe stopped him doing some media work).

Mad that Ben White is playing in this and not for Scotland.

[francoisfou]

I saw O'Gara had thrown his toys out the pram over the rescheduled game. Wasn't a happy bunny with having the two week break interrupted (maybe stopped him doing some media work).

Mad that Ben White is playing in this and not for Scotland.

ROG even half-threatened to forfeit the match, so they say!