The UAFC

BOD interview was very interesting. Revealed his agent convinced him to go to Biarritz, allow himself to be photographed and go to a Biarritz game just to start a rumour he was signing for them. Then the IRFU came in with a better deal which he took. He says he felt rather guilty about it, but it shows what extent players will go to to get more money.

Alex Corbisiero to Northampton is a done deal.

breakdown wrote:

Scranner wrote:Yeh! Got that wrong. But the point is the frenchies seem to be buying up all the talent. What are we going to do when they come after ours?

Keep them. The rest of our lads are Ulster guys through and through, and the guys that are here bu residency, well, they are good players but I can't see them attracting interest from any big spending club

I'm not sure that they are so through and through Ulster that they would pass up double (or more) wages. Not all are as altruistic as Rory Best and, with a short career span, I worry about players from any of the provinces being tempted. Or is the Sexton thing a Dricoesque ploy?

The Sexton to Paris thing looks like a live possibility to me, rather than just a negotiating ploy..

Michael Claassens (Bath) is in talks with Toulon over a proposed move.

Do French clubs have a salary cap or is there no rules regarding non French players?

breakdown wrote:Do French clubs have a salary cap or is there no rules regarding non French players?

They have financial restrictions on what they can spend, but not a cap like the English. Most restrictions relate to a % of income, so the really bug clubs with huge income don't have to worry too much. Anecdotaly, there has always been wide spread creative accounting by French clubs.

BBC Sport website reporting that Gethin Jenkins has refused offers to come back to Cardiff... any wonder really?

BR wrote:

breakdown wrote:Do French clubs have a salary cap or is there no rules regarding non French players?

They have financial restrictions on what they can spend, but not a cap like the English. Most restrictions relate to a % of income, so the really bug clubs with huge income don't have to worry too much. Anecdotaly, there has always been wide spread creative accounting by French clubs.

Cheers. Not sure what needs to be done but in my opinion Toulon should be fined or something with the money they are spending, or a proper cap should be put on the Top14. Being able to afford Wilk, Giteau and to an extent Bastareaud for a 10/12/13 axis is ridiculous really, and that is just three players, not mentioning Botha, Armitage, Sheridan and Smit reportedly on his way

Saw a piece on Sexton on breakingnews.ie long and boring yadda yadda until it ended with the following:

In the past, big Irish names such as Brian O'Driscoll and Ronan O'Gara have been linked with moves to France while negotiating new contracts with the IRFU.

Unlike Wales, Ireland has almost managed to hold onto almost all big names, I hope that IRFU will continue to do so.

I also ask why, money apart, a guy with 3 HC medals would join a club without history nor frankly a clue about how to turn expenditure into a successful team. Toulouse of course & Clermont are different big spending animals but Toulon & Racing are all fur coat & no knickers & I fervently hope that they stay that way.

They have all the class of Chelski.

Compared to Toulon and Racing, Toulouse dont really spend that much

breakdown wrote:Cheers. Not sure what needs to be done but in my opinion Toulon should be fined or something with the money they are spending, or a proper cap should be put on the Top14. Being able to afford Wilk, Giteau and to an extent Bastareaud for a 10/12/13 axis is ridiculous really, and that is just three players, not mentioning Botha, Armitage, Sheridan and Smit reportedly on his way

Surely having Armitage on their bnooks is enough to offset the benefit of having all those top class players. Slekid wee tom kite!

breakdown wrote:Compared to Toulon and Racing, Toulouse dont really spend that much

pretty sure toulouse have the biggest budget in france, clermont are up there too.

TBH i dont really have a problem with toulon becuase it seems like a real rugby town and the fans actually seem to have a bit of passion about the game, yes they spend big and bring in a lot of foreign players, but there are true fans there to appreciate it.

Racing and Stade Francais are a different situation though, always using gimicks etc to attract a bit of attention to themselves, imo anyone who regularly moves games about to try and attract fans and shafts there own fans in the process are a bit of a joke, same reason im not a massive fan of sarries..

Corbisiero off to Northampton as a replacement to Doran-Jones who has went to Quins

No ulster rumours yet? I afoa staying? Muller renewing? When are we allowed another project?