The Frogs and their damn Euros

[Gagger]

Interesting piece in the Times on Sunday.

World stars cashing in on a lifestyle choice
French rugby is being flooded by talent in pursuit of record wages, but local resistance to the invasion is growing
Ian Borthwick

WITH Jamie Noon and England Sevens skipper Ollie Phillips joining the trend last week, and Jonny Wilkinson about to sign for Toulon, France is looking more and more like rugby?s El Dorado. A fatter pay cheque, a better lifestyle, the rugby boom in France and the prospect of a wider variety of styles in ?le Top 14? mean France is the destination of choice for many of the world?s best players.

French rugby clubs have been affected less than their English counterparts by the credit crunch. The sums offered to the game?s stars continue to hit record levels. Perpignan paid All Black Dan Carter ?750,000 for seven months, reduced to two when the fly-half was injured. With Juan Mart?n Hern?ndez (Stade Fran?ais) on ?440,000, Byron Kelleher (Toulouse) on ?460,000 and Kiwi League convert Sonny Bill Williams (Toulon) on ?500,000, seven of the 10 best-paid players in France are foreigners.

Next season Springbok Francois Steyn is coming to Racing-Metro for ?750,000 and Wilkinson has reportedly been offered ?1m, the same as S?bastien Chabal, who will join Steyn at the Paris-based club.

The strength of the euro, which has risen roughly 30% against the pound, the lack of a so-called salary cap and the bevy of benefactors bankrolling clubs are all significant factors. But French rugby is also on a roll. The average crowd at championship matches has soared from 3,726 in 2000 to 12,196 this year. Even in the professional Second Division, the average of 1,112 in 2001 rose to 5,108 in 2008.

French rugby also offers a number of occasions unparalleled in world rugby. For decades, the club final in Paris has been one of the game?s great events, but thanks mostly to savvy Stade Fran?ais boss Max Guazzini, the French capital hosts several similar extravaganzas throughout the season. On four separate weekends this year, Guazzini has filled the Stade de France with 80,000 for a regular club game, spending as much as ?1m on pre-match entertainment. Toulouse regularly play home games at the 35,000 capacity football stadium, and when Toulon shifted their Toulouse match 90km west to Marseilles, 60,000 turned up at the legendary Velodrome, while 1.1m watched the game on television.

These developments, fuelled by the foreign influx, have had a deep impact on the foundations of French rugby. France coach Marc Li?vremont has bemoaned the fact that more and more key positions in French clubs are held by ?les ?trangers? and that development of home-grown talent is being sabotaged by clubs enlisting foreigners. This season, more than 40% of all players in the Top 14 were foreigners, with some clubs having fewer than half their squad eligible to play for France.

The main culprits are Brive (62%) Toulon (57%) and Castres (53%), three towns which for various cultural and geographic reasons have always had the greatest difficulty in attracting and retaining French nationals.

But there is no resentment towards the ?rosbif? imports. ?I haven?t felt animosity amongst the players,? noted Stade Fran?ais assistant coach Fabrice Landreau. ?English players are generally more structured in their preparation and demand more of themselves than the French. This tends to rub off on the locals and has enabled us to take our game to another level.?

There are other benefits for those who cross the Channel. The weather, the food and the baffling ?je ne sais quoi?. On Friday in Perpignan, for instance, the team trained in 26 degrees and coach Jacques Brunel observed that in two seasons his team had only twice had to train in the rain.

I once interviewed Gregor Townsend, who was playing for Montpellier, during a post-match rehab session. The local pool was a sea-water spa overlooking the Mediterranean, with a clear view of the sea and of the topless bathers working on their suntans. There was, as Townsend observed, little point in trying to compare it with a similar session in Edinburgh.

Official moves are afoot to limit foreigners and to impose a salary cap. New Ligue National du Rugby president Pierre-Yves Revol has passed a motion imposing increased quotas of home players, cutting foreigners to 30% by 2011-2012. This may not stand up in a European court and a number of clubs, including Racing, Brive, Perpignan and Toulon, have all voiced their opposition to it.

As for the salary cap, in Gallic style, resistance is growing. ?There has to be a limit,? said Paul Goze, president of Perpignan, last week. ?But I am against it across the board. Paying everybody the same is what they did in Soviet Russia.? The battle has only just begun.

- Ian Borthwick is a rugby writer for l?Equipe

 

[PaarlBok]

Think it will be cool if we are to join NH, it have to be French. Their bloodline gave some good things to SA, wine and rugby and temperament. Talked to Marius Joubert's dad over the weekend, he sure enjoy his French way of life. Getting married in July and sure have no intend to get back to SA. Watch Jacques Fourie joining him in Clemont. Talk have it Jean de Villiers may join Thomo's Munster, Schalk Brits already to Saracens.

 

[Epi]

Yes, but does it offer the non-stop gang-bang action of the NRL??

I think not!

 

[mark_s]

Very good article and makes me want to move to Frogland.

If the IRB is serious about making this a level playing field, then they should introduce transfer fees. This may become a more realistic proposition if the home nations start regulrly losing players to France.

 

[RugbyReg]

how do transfer fees work?

sorry, that's not a snide remark. An honest question as to how they work?

For example the Rodney Blake example. He's contracted by the Reds, contract is up and he goes to somewhere in France. Is that club then obliged to pay the Reds $10,000 (or would it be more) on top of paying the player salary? as repayment for the time invested in him? What about the step before when the Reds signed him from West Harbour? Do the QRU have to pay him or because he was an amateur at that stage, it doesn't count?

Is a fee relevant to their level of achievement or time in the respective system?

 

[mark_s]

how do transfer fees work?

sorry, that's not a snide remark. An honest question as to how they work?

For example the Rodney Blake example. He's contracted by the Reds, contract is up and he goes to somewhere in France. Is that club then obliged to pay the Reds $10,000 (or would it be more) on top of paying the player salary? as repayment for the time invested in him? What about the step before when the Reds signed him from West Harbour? Do the QRU have to pay him or because he was an amateur at that stage, it doesn't count?

Is a fee relevant to their level of achievement or time in the respective system?

I used to think transfer fees would be very simple. E.g. if Giteau was signed in France then they should pay something to the club they signed him from as compensation for losing a very high quality player. However, as you point out - it gets very complicated very quickly. For example, what is the Aus club for this purpose, is it the ARU, the Force, the brumbies or what ever club team Giteau is notionally aligned to?

I wasn't thinking it would apply to player movements between say QLD and NSW.

Thinking about if further, I think any transfer fees would need to be payable to/by the national unions. Those unions would then need to work out how to spread the costs/proceeds amoungst it constituents.

Also only certain players would be eligible for a transfer fee. For example, NTA signing with Toulon probably wouldn't trigger a transfer fee. Maybe only inlcude players who have represented their country (at either Junior/age level or Senior level) in the last two years. Also, maybe limit to players aged 27 or under to allow older players a chance to take off if they wanted to.

Then someone needs to work out a fee scale.

It is starting to get very complicated and thats before I start thinking about possible restraint of trade issues.

 

[Biffo]

It should not be forgotten that players in France have to work much harder than their counterparts in Australia, NZ and RSA.

The basic season for a professional player in France is 26 games. In S14 it is 13. The finals series or "playoffs" are the same for four teams in both competitions.

Many players in France have to play also in "cup" competitions which may involve up to 6-8 games. S14 players don't have to play in any.

It is fair to conclude that players in France play more than twice as many games as their SANZAR counterparts. Is it unfair that they are paid twice as much? I think not.

 

[Epi]

how do transfer fees work?

sorry, that's not a snide remark. An honest question as to how they work?

For example the Rodney Blake example. He's contracted by the Reds, contract is up and he goes to somewhere in France. Is that club then obliged to pay the Reds $10,000 (or would it be more) on top of paying the player salary? as repayment for the time invested in him? What about the step before when the Reds signed him from West Harbour? Do the QRU have to pay him or because he was an amateur at that stage, it doesn't count?

Is a fee relevant to their level of achievement or time in the respective system?

I used to think transfer fees would be very simple. E.g. if Giteau was signed in France then they should pay something to the club they signed him from as compensation for losing a very high quality player. However, as you point out - it gets very complicated very quickly. For example, what is the Aus club for this purpose, is it the ARU, the Force, the brumbies or what ever club team Giteau is notionally aligned to?

I wasn't thinking it would apply to player movements between say QLD and NSW.

Thinking about if further, I think any transfer fees would need to be payable to/by the national unions. Those unions would then need to work out how to spread the costs/proceeds amoungst it constituents.

Also only certain players would be eligible for a transfer fee. For example, NTA signing with Toulon probably wouldn't trigger a transfer fee. Maybe only inlcude players who have represented their country (at either Junior/age level or Senior level) in the last two years. Also, maybe limit to players aged 27 or under to allow older players a chance to take off if they wanted to.

Then someone needs to work out a fee scale.

It is starting to get very complicated and thats before I start thinking about possible restraint of trade issues.

Basically a tranfer fee would only be applicable whilst a player is under contract. A recent but unofficial example of this was the fee paid by Toulon to the Canterbury Bulldogs. In rugby this is rare and most players simply play out their contract

In football it is in the interests of the club to either re-sign a player whilst under contract or transfer him to another club to recoup on their investment. If a player refuses to re-sign, plays out the remainder of their contract and then becomes a free-agent and can transfer under the 'Bosman' ruling ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosman_ruling ). This would mean that his club has no rights to a transfer fee. A player will generally agree to a transfer if the salary is right and his destination club is suitable as he takes a percentage of the fee (approx 10% I think...)

The Bosman ruling would probably be applicable to Rugby Union in that the club the player was contracted to has no claim on a transfer fee or claim on future earnings on players once out of contract.

 

[Biffo]

The Bosman ruling is interesting. Perhaps more interesting to Australians is the case of Dennis Tutty, which happened long before the Bosman thing. Balmain RLC was refusing a transfer of Tutty to Penrith RLC while he was on contract. Tutty sat out a season or two until his contract was over and then went to the courts. The court ruled for Tutty. That was in 1971 IIRC.

It seems plain: while a player is under contract, his club has the right to a transfer in return for a release; when his contract expires, the club has no rights to his services or a fee for releasing him. Common sense at work, I think.

Lee Granting, I seem to recall that Tutty was related to Reg Gasnier, the greatest back I ever saw in either rugby code. If you read this, LG, can you add something?

 

[formeropenside]

did anyone else besides me notice the crowd improvements that no doubt have driven a part of the ability to pay at such rates, even leaving the lifestyle to one side

 

[PaarlBok]

It should not be forgotten that players in France have to work much harder than their counterparts in Australia, NZ and RSA.

The basic season for a professional player in France is 26 games. In S14 it is 13. The finals series or "playoffs" are the same for four teams in bot competitions.

Many players in France have to play also in "cup" competitions which may involve up to 6-8 games. S14 players don'r have to play in any.

It is fair to conclude that players in France play more than twice as many games as their SANZAR counterparts. Is it unfair that they are paid twice as much? I think not.

Had a talk with Marius Joubert's dad about this. Seems like the top French clubs have two squads. One playing T14 and the other Heineken Cup.

 

[Biffo]

did anyone else besides me notice the crowd improvements that no doubt have driven a part of the ability to pay at such rates, even leaving the lifestyle to one side

I did. Simple - larger crowds and more games give higher player payments. John O'Neill appears to place this truism, plus higher viewership on the box, at the centre of his strategic thinking. Some (or many?) seem to disagree.

 

[Lindommer]

how do transfer fees work? Sorry, that's not a snide remark. An honest question as to how they work? For example the Rodney Blake example. He's contracted by the Reds, contract is up and he goes to somewhere in France. Is that club then obliged to pay the Reds $10,000 (or would it be more) on top of paying the player salary? as repayment for the time invested in him? What about the step before when the Reds signed him from West Harbour? Do the QRU have to pay him or because he was an amateur at that stage, it doesn't count?

Only a truckload of Reds money would suffice. And some of it to trickle down to Wests Juniors. 8) 8) 8)

 

[Biffo]

how do transfer fees work? Sorry, that's not a snide remark. An honest question as to how they work? For example the Rodney Blake example. He's contracted by the Reds, contract is up and he goes to somewhere in France. Is that club then obliged to pay the Reds $10,000 (or would it be more) on top of paying the player salary? as repayment for the time invested in him? What about the step before when the Reds signed him from West Harbour? Do the QRU have to pay him or because he was an amateur at that stage, it doesn't count?

Only a truckload of Reds money would suffice. And some of it to trickle down to Wests Juniors. 8) 8) 8)

Trucks in Queensland are very small.

 

[Thomond78]

As it happens, it's crucifying French rugby, and the French clubs. The three teams named are bottom-dwellers in the T14. It's four years since a French team won the HEC, and that was Toulouse, who produce locally as much as possible. This year, only one French team made it to the HEC knock-out stages, and there were none in the semis.

The imports are fucking up French rugby, no question about it.

 

[Epi]

As it happens, it's crucifying French rugby, and the French clubs. The three teams named are bottom-dwellers in the T14. It's four years since a French team won the HEC, and that was Toulouse, who produce locally as much as possible. This year, only one French team made it to the HEC knock-out stages, and there were none in the semis.

The imports are fucking up French rugby, no question about it.

Crucifying French rugby? When crowd and revenue figures have never been higher??

Even Guy Noves - coach of Toulouse (who you mentioned) would disagree with you:

PR: What about the other reforms that have been proposed, for example soon clubs will have to have at least 50 per cent French players on their books and 70 in two years time. Do you think these reforms are going in the right direction?

GN: I think the best French players are playing so there's no problem there at the moment. Insisting on using the young French players that don't yet have the skills necessary - I'm not sure that's the best thing to do. We've got youngsters that play, if they've got the talent, alongside top class foreigners, which also helps them lift their game by seeing the example set by quality players.

There's a lot to be said on the subject. I'm not for their being a high percentage of foreign players - at Toulouse only 27 per cent or our players are foreign - so we're not concerned by the rule changes but I think foreigners have their place in Europe and in France.

If anything the problems with French rugby's inability to see a club through to the final stages of the European Cup are due to the sheer numbers of games these guys are playing... It is one hell of a long season.

Again from Noves:

PR: In [last] Tuesday's press conference you said that "French rugby is busy being pulled down", what exactly did you mean by that?

GN: I was talking about the reforms being proposed by the League President. They're trying to level out the forces in French rugby, they're creating even more matches. I've always said we're playing too much rugby and now they're adding extra matches with these faux [Top 14] quarter-finals at the end of the season. The top two clubs get to relax and wait while the others play these matches meaning that it's important to finish in the top two, which adds extra pressure on us to concentrate on the domestic league.

It means we'll no longer be able to do what we did this weekend in Brive by allowing some players to rest. Next year we won't have that luxury, we're putting too much strain on the international players. It penalises ambitious clubs like ours who try to achieve in both competitions. In the medium term it's going to diminish our capacity to compete with other nations in Europe. So maybe next year we'll be obliged to concentrate on the French championship and use our youngsters in Europe.

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_5186504,00.html

Interesting also was Mark Gasnier's view on the subject at ruggamatrix.com - there is no doubt that at least partly due to the foreign influence, French rugby has never been healthier.

Oh..and I think you can thank a certain Chris White for Toulouse's inability to get further in the EC this year...