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Bastareaud set July 8 deadline to sort out short-term future... and he isn't short of options

What Mathieu Bastareaud will do with his remaining time in 2019 is still to be decided (Photo by Getty Images)

Mathieu Bastareaud’s short-term future remains up in the air following his omission from the France squad for the World Cup in Japan.

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The experienced French centre had assumed he would be going to the finals and had said his goodbyes to Toulon as he has a contract signed to play with Rugby United New York in America in their 2020 MLR season.

He is still under contract with Toulon until December 1 before he temporarily leaves them for his half-year stint in New York. However, they did not include him in their plans for the start of the new 2019/20 Top 14 season as they believed he would be unavailable due to representing his country in Japan.

That assumption was torn asunder on June 18 when Jacques Brunel left Bastareaud out of the 31-strong France squad for the finals, the centre even failing to be included in the standby list of the players also announced.

This development has left Bastareaud – who has since announced his Test rugby retirement – in limbo and he must now move quickly to decide what he will do to fill the time before he moves to the States.

What is known, according to the Friday edition of Midi Olympique, is that he will not be returning to Toulon when they assemble for pre-season on July 2.

In meetings with coach Patrice Collazo, president Mourad Boudjellal and recruitment manager Laurent Emmanuelli, it was decided by both sides to set July 8 as the deadline for a decision.

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The French newspaper reports that an immediate return to Toulon is just one of a number of solutions Bastareaud is considering. It’s believed the Durban-based Sharks would welcome him for their Currie Cup campaign.

However, three French clubs are apparently sounding him out about a temporary switch under the joker status, a ploy that would see his salary not taken into account in the salary cap.

Stade Francais, his former home, are said to be interested as are Racing 92 and Montpellier. None of the options are yet said to be a clear favourite, however, the newspaper suggesting ‘all hypotheses are still open’ ahead of the July 8 deadline.

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Eliza Galloway 1 hour ago
Geoff Parling: An Englishman roasting the Lions?

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JW 1 hour ago
James O'Connor, the Lions and the great club v country conundrum

Lol you need to shoot your editor for that headline, even I near skipped the article.


France simply need to go to a league format for the Brennus, that will shave two weekends of pointless knockout rugby from their season and raise the competitions standards and mystique no end.


The under age loophole is also a easy door to shut, just remove the lower age limit. WR simply never envisioned a day were teams would target people under the age of 17 or whatever it is now, but much like with Rassie and his use of subs bench, that day was obviously always going to come. I can’t remember how football does it, I think it’s the other way around with them, you can’t sign anyone younger than that but unions can’t stop 17 or 18 yo’s from leaving for a pro club if they want to. There is a transaction that takes place of a few hundred thousand for a normal average player. I’d prefer rugby to be stricter and just keep the union bodies signoff being required.


What really was their problem with Kite and co leaving though? Do we really need a game dominated by Internationals? I even think WR’s proposed calendar might be a bit too much, with at minimum 12 top tier games being played in the World Championship. I think 10 to 12, maybe any one player playing 10 of those 12 is the best way to think of it, for every international team is max, so that they can allow their domestic comps to shine if they want, and other nations like Japan and Fiji can, even some of the home nations maybe, and fill out their calendar with extra tours if they like them as a way to make money. As it is RA don’t have as good a pathway system, so they could simply buy back those players if they turn good. Are they worried they’ll be less likely to? We wait for baited breath for the new season to be laid out in front of us by WR.

It could impose sanctions on the Fédération Française de Rugby, but the body which runs the Top 14 and the ProD2, the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, is entirely independent.

It’s not independent at all. The LNR is a body under, and commissioned by, the FFR (and Government control) to mediate the clubs. FFR can simply install a new club competition if they don’t listen, then you’d see whether the players want to stay at any club who doesn’t tow the line and move to the new competition, as they obviously wouldn’t fall under the auspice of world rugby. They would be rebels, which is fine in and upon itself, but they would isolate themselves from the rest of the game and would need to be OK with that. I have no doubt whatsoever that clubs would have to and want to fall in line to remain part of the EPCR and French rugby. Probably even the last thing they would want is to compete with another French domestic competition that has all the advantages they don’t.


All those players would do good for a few seasons in France, especially the fringe ones, with thankfully zero risk of them being poached if they turn good. New Zealand had a turn at keeping all of it’s talent, and while it upticked the competitiveness of the Super Rugby teams into a total dominance of Australian and South African counterparts (who were suffering more heavily than most the other way at that stage), it didn’t have as positive an effect on the next step up as ensuring young talents development is not hindered does. Essentially NZR flooded the locate market with players but inevitably it didn’t think the local economy could sustain any more pro teams itself, so now we are seeing a normal amount of exodus for the availability of places again. Are Australia in exactly the same footing? I think so, finances where dicey for a while perhaps but I doubt they are putting money constraints on their contracting now. It’s purely about who leaves to open up opportunity.

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