Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Former All Black Taylor sacked by Pau after walking out on club

(Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

Former All Blacks standoff Tom Taylor has been sensationally sacked by Top 14 side Pau, for going AWOL from the club during the lockdown. The club claim that Taylor had left France, despite being asked to be available for duty at any given stage during the lockdown.

ADVERTISEMENT

A statement from Pau reads: “On March 17, 2020, the club noted that Mr. Tom Taylor had left the national territory without any prior authorization from his employer even though all players were asked to remain at the disposal of the club and to respect government measures in as part of the fight against Covid-19.

“This personal decision, contrary to all the instructions that had been given by the club since March 13, is all the more illegitimate since it was not justified. He put the team and all the staff in the most complete disarray since there was then no information on the dates on which the championship could resume and it was therefore necessary that the players were all immediately available in the event of a resumption of activity, which all his teammates understood and respected.

“The Section regrets this behavior on the part of his player that goes against the club’s values, team spirit and basic ethics.

“During the preparation of the 19/20 season, the club had voluntarily put in place rules of life, committing to respect moral values and to demonstrate exemplary behavior on and off the field.

“Faced with these materially established facts, the club had no other recourse than to initiate a dismissal procedure against Mr. Tom Taylor.

“The club will not comment on this at this time.”

Taylor was capped three times for the All Blacks. He left New Zealand in 2015 to play for Toulon, before moving to Pau in 2016. Prior to France, he earned 58 caps for the Crusaders between 2012 and 2015.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

R
RedWarrior 1 hour ago
Three-way race to be number one in World Rugby men's rankings

IF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.


As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.


Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).

This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.

If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.

Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.

After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.

Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.


Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)

Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.

Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.


Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.


Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:


Seeding Band 1

IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG

Seeding Band 2

SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: FIJI

1/8 final opponent GEORGIA

Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA

1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND

Prognosis: You know the prognosis


I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?


Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.

1 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose star midfielder Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose midfielder
Search