Wednesday, October 17, 2012
The Rugby Riviera - A glimpse into the lives of English players at Toulon
We recently featured an interview with Jonny Wilkinson talking about life and rugby in France, but here is an extended look at not only Wilkinson, but a few of the other English stars plying their trade at table topping Toulon.
Sky Sports went to Toulon to find out how life is treating the English players at the Top 14 leaders, ahead of the Heineken Cup. There's six in total, not to mention players such as Bakkies Botha, Matt Giteau, David Smith, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, and many other top internationals.
Steffon Armitage is one English player that has made a big impact at the club, and now has his brother Delon playing alongside him, as well as Simon Shaw, Nick Kennedy, and Andrew Sheridan.
Toulon have high hopes for not only domestic rugby, but the Heineken Cup too as they have set out to win the tournament, spearheaded by their charismatic club president, Mourad Boudjellal.
The self made comic-book millionaire has succesfully built a squad based around more than just a bunch of talented players. He believes that the work ethic of the English players in particular has been a key ingredient in why they have been succesful there so far.
"A lot of people think Toulon is a club with a millionaire and no soul and that I spend endless sums of money to get the best players in the world, like a team on PlayStation, but it is now self-financed," he said.
Below are the two parts to Rugby Riviera, 9:53 and 10:39 minutes long respectively
Credit to Sky Sports for the special report
Posted at 1:52 pm | 12 comments
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Viewing 12 comments
proptank October 17, 2012 10:40 pm
Chris October 17, 2012 11:45 pm
Canadian content October 18, 2012 4:13 am
Frenchie October 18, 2012 5:52 am
Best example with the last 6Nation; I thought that this "new" team played a great rugby.
The French certainly can play great rugby but they are not consistent; often they need to be pushed to their limit to play. We can mention the RWC final in NZ.
I hope the new generation will be more "professional" and bring a more efficient rugby.
Saint Andre has named several new and young guys in the squad; lets see how they do on the pitch; if they play.
Pretzel October 18, 2012 2:30 pm
I remember reading about the 6 nations year in year out, and people are always saying, "well it depends which French team turn up, the ones that want to play or the ones that don't"..
French RWC semi final game was "lucky" to say the least, I mean it was a close game even with a Welsh player in the bin, the French just looked a bit sloppy, but just kept it together. Then the Final, they played out their skins, I felt they were very "unlucky" to not win it.
The French are always a dangerous team to play against because they always have the skill, you're just never sure if they're going to use it at all.., however I look forward to the times when they become consistently dangerous, and teams go into a match against the French and KNOW it will be tough..
Gensian5 October 18, 2012 11:29 am
stroudos October 18, 2012 11:07 pm
Pretty sure most of the players live nearer the training ground in Sunbury, (west London).
Pretzel October 18, 2012 2:32 pm
Rugbydump October 18, 2012 6:27 pm
Pretzel October 18, 2012 9:16 pm
Rob October 18, 2012 5:04 pm
Steffon should have been in but from Lancaster's point of view the tour is relatively short and if you're going up against the boks you want a team that's been training together from the start and not having someone come in after a week or so
Colombes October 19, 2012 2:07 pm
I quite agree with boudjellal and laporte saying that english players bring some professionalism and strong mentality to Toulon. Most people believe that english players come to Toulon as old persons finish their lives on the french riviera. It's maybe true for Shaw or Andrew Sheridan, but clearly wrong for the armitage brothers and co. Salary cap is also a reason but they also want to practice a more "opened" rugby.
Finally, The mix between french skills and anglosaxon players had begun a trademark in Toulon.
adding one word on the inconsistency of the french national team, st-andré has already bring some professionalism in the french selection, but i really hope that he will achieve to give this "english" mentality to the players. 2015 will be the answer
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