France

Argentina faces the likelihood of missing out on hosting test matches in 2020. The reason for this is no secret: covid-19. Responses to the pandemic mean that all the dates for Argentina’s home matches are officially compromised, leaving Los Pumas without a home test match for the first year since …

An Argentine and a Colombian have been named by L’Equipe in the Top 14 team of the season. The team was selected based on 17 rounds of the 2019-2020 season. Selection for the line-up was base on statistics from the season. Argentine winger Santiago Cordero led the statistics for his …

With the sporting world on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic there are questions concerning when competitions will resume. In the case of rugby there is no clear answer. Administrators are busy behind the scenes seeking solutions, yet World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont has said there is a strong …

Former Castres fullback, Romain Teulet has named his perfect Castres XV. Nicknamed Robocop, Teulet was a prolific goal kicker for Castres and the top point scorer in the Top 14 in the 2009-2010 season. He is also the all-time leading point scorer for Castres with 3102 points. Teulet’s points came …

Shane O’Leary is headed back to France. The Canadian international has signed for Pro D2 club Rouen Normandie, whom he will join for the 2020-21 season when the sport resumes. Rouen are relatively new to professional rugby. Formed in 2009, they reached Fédérale 2 in 2013, winning the Fédérale 1 …

Sylvain Marconnet played for Stade Français for thirteen seasons. In doing so, the French prop won titles and played with some a range of elite players. He has noted just who he deems to have been the best in his Perfect Stade Français XV. The prop with 84 caps for …

Arguably the best win from Los Pumas during the RWC 2007-2011 cycle came in June 2010. It was Argentina’s third home match of the June Internationals. Having lost a two match series at home against Scotland, the Felipe Contepomi captained side rebounded to defeat France by a record margin in …

Guy Novès has named Patricio Albacete in his perfect Toulouse XV. The former Toulouse and France Head Coach was a player for the club from 1975-1988, Assistant Coach from 1988-1990 and Head Coach from 1992-2015. He is the most successful coach in the professional era. He took Toulouse to European …

Three Pumas have been named in the Montpellier perfect XV by Mamuka Gorgodze. The former Georgian captain was a mainstay at the club. During a very long period covering 2005-2014 he played 168 matches for Montpellier. Gorgodze discussed his perfect Monpellier XV with Midi Olympique. He did not include himself …

In his rookie season of test match rugby, Manuel Montero was a break-out star. He debuted with a try against Uruguay before scoring a hat-trick against Chile and one against Brazil. The three tests were in May 2012 for teams comparable to the Argentina XV by contemporary standards. In June …