In Defence of French Rugby: Part 4

What for the future of French rugby? I have consciously focussed on the French club game as my knowledge lies in the leagues and not the national side. But it’s Les Bleus who are the flagship of the nation and who represent the country, so they cannot be ignored. With club rugby being so strong one would assume that this rubs off on the national side. This is true, in part.

Warning shots are being fired, however, about the future of the national side. With the game flooded by foreigners, young Frenchmen are struggling to find a foothold in the game. A young player used to rise up through the ranks of his club, through under 19s and under 21s and under 23s, and then get his shot at the first team. This was true for all clubs, even the top flight. It still happens today, but not in the top two divisions.

Imagine a young player at Stade Francais Paris. He has played for the under 15s, 17s, 19s, 21s but cannot push any further. His route is blocked. His options are limited if he wants to remain in the game, and especially if he wants to remain in Paris. If he wants a career in rugby then he’s going to have to work harder than players ever have done in the past. He’ll have to move, undoubtedly towards the South. He’ll be looking for a club like Albi, a small club with little money yet still with a foothold in the second tier of French rugby. They have no money, so they have no foreigners – they are obliged to take risks on young French players. Only through performing well for a struggling side like Albi for a couple of seasons will he be able to attract attention from clubs like Stade Francais, and even then it’s tricky. It’s widely known that clubs want internationals, so getting that one cap for France is crucial for your career. If you’re French and outside that sphere then it becomes difficult in the extreme.

Those in favour of the salary cap maintain that it keeps the league competitive, that it prevents an elite of clubs streaking off by pricing everyone else out of the market for the best players. In England, this hasn’t stopped the Premiership being won by the same old clubs. The lack of a salary cap in France is creating an elite. Or rather, it is strengthening an elite that has always existed. Toulouse have the biggest budget now and have always been the most successful club. A large population in your town now makes all the difference, helping established clubs like Clermont-Auvergne and Perpignan, and giving a huge boost to those on the make like Montpellier, Lyon and Toulon while those like Brive, Castres, Bourgoin lose out.

It’s important to note that the French Top 14 is set up in such a way to reduce the effect of this. In theory, a side finishing 6^th can win the Championship. It gives hope to teams like Agen, a great club hanging on to the top flight with their fingertips.

The days of the small town club are over. These are the days of the powerhouse that sells shirts and attracts 20,000 spectators every week and can fill an 80,000 seater stadium three times a season, that competes on the European stage and has a first team (and sometimes a second team) packed with World Cup winners and superstars from every continent. This is globalisation, and while it adds glamour and flair, clubs like Pau, Grenoble, Agen (8 times Champions), Beziers (Champions 10 times in the 1970s and 80s), Narbonne (twice Champions), Auch, Albi and La Rochelle. These clubs all have stadiums of around 12,000 capacity, history and mighty impressive lists of former players. But they are being squeezed out to the backwaters of the League system, priced out and reduced to accomplished but resentful feeder clubs for the big-city slickers.

It’s in a place like Beziers and Agen that many claim to find the real French rugby fan, not the pink-wearing Parisians who have recently taken a liking to the sport.

French rugby is rapidly evolving and no one really knows where it is going. Like a beautiful bubble, it may continue to rise and those watching in awe all have a knowing suspicion that it will pop at some point. Recent developments at Stade Francais have shown that the money cannot keep flowing, and everyone knows that money can’t buy success. 

So while everyone longs for the re-emergence of the small town tie, the earthy gladiatorial French rugby encounter between resurgent Beziers and Agen, we can’t take our eyes off Toulouse v. Clermont; as one home town hero Parra feeds another in Rougerie who in turn takes the double tackle of McAlister and Caucaunibuca, only to pop an offload to Sivivatu who scores under the posts. Sorry.