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Doubts cast over Racing 92-Stade Francais merger

A meeting on Friday will decide whether the 'merger' of Racing 92 and Stade Francais will go ahead

Could player power be about to scupper Paris clubs’ planned union?

All is not well in the pro-Racing 92-Stade Francais merger camp. The ‘grand fusion’ of two of France’s most historic rugby club may not go ahead after all, it has been reported.

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Speculation that the union may be in trouble came following what was described as a ‘heated’ and ‘tense’ meeting between officials and player representatives two days after the plans were announced.

According to reports, the head of the players’ union in France, Montpellier second row Robins Tchale-Watchou, told the presidents of the two clubs that players had been ‘betrayed’ and said an indefinite strike by Stade Francais players would only be called off if the merger was scrapped.

Collared by reporters outside the meeting, Stade Francais president Thomas Savare was asked whether he remained confident the union will go ahead. He said only: “We’ll see.”

The two Top 14 clubs shocked the rugby world on Monday when they announced they would unite to form a single Paris-based super club. At a press conference that took place hours after the announcement, Savare said: “We are aware that we have dropped a bombshell.”

But the decision prompted anger from fans and players, in particular members of the Stade Francais squad, who – along with their Racing counterparts – were only informed of the plans in a meeting shortly before the merger proposal was made public. Within hours, a protest was staged at Stade Jean-Bouin, the home of Stade Francais, and the club’s entire playing staff had voted for indefinite strike action.

France squad members Jonathan Danty and Djibril Camara joined the protests. L’Equipe reports that they were allowed to leave the training camp ahead of France’s final Six Nations match against Wales by FFR vice-president Serge Simon – which hints that the players may have the unofficial and silent support of the national union.

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Read more: We weren’t allowed to live near each other – Phillips shocked by Racing-Stade merger

Certainly, FFR president Bernard Laporte, a former Stade coach, has spoken of his disappointment on hearing the news, and his anger over not being forewarned of the news.

Now, a decision on whether to go ahead with the merger will be made following an emergency meeting of competition organisers the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) on Friday, at which club officials, player representatives and other interested parties will be present.

LNR president Paul Goze, who previously welcomed the proposals, added he was confident ‘a solution can be found’ at Friday’s meeting.

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Read more: Comparing Stade-Racing merger to Barcelona-Real Madrid joining pretentious – Lorenzetti

Even then, there are still official hoops to jump through. Or, at least, side-step. The plans must be approved by the clubs’ amateur sections (the youth and ‘espoirs’ body), which are separate from the professional entity. Similar plans last season to merge Basque sides Biarritz and Bayonne fell down on a ‘no’ vote from the amateur section.

It must then be ratified by the FFR, following the creation of a third-party body – with a new affiliation code – effectively representing the new club. However, Lorenzetti said that if the amateur sections vote against the merger, the new club would register under Racing’s affiliation number, turning the merger into an absorption of Stade by its Ile-de-France rival. That, effectively, circumvents any FFR veto.

The first casualty of any Stade player strike will be this weekend’s match at Castres Olympique. If Stade does not fulfil that fixture, they will be docked two points and Castres awarded five points. The process will repeat for their next two fixtures, against Toulon and Bayonne. After the third forfeited fixture, LNR rules state that Stade will be relegated to the ProD2 and their remaining fixtures this season will be cancelled, with clubs still due to play them awarded five points.

As a result, and assuming league positions at the bottom of the table do not change between now and the end of the season, Grenoble would escape relegation altogether, while Bayonne would face a survival-or-bust play-off against the second-placed team from the ProD2.

Meanwhile, Toulon has announced that players and staff will wear pink armbands during their next Top 14 outing against Grenoble, as a show of support for Stade’s players.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 3 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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