Stade Francais confirm 13 players leaving, including ex-Wasps duo

Stade Francais have confirmed the names of 13 players leaving their squad now that their 2022/23 Top 14 season has ended, a lengthy list that includes Paolo Odogwu and Vincent Koch, their two mid-campaign recruits from the busted Wasps.

The Paris club bowed out of the French title race with their 33-20 home play-off loss to city rivals Racing last Saturday, losing out on a place in this Friday’s semi-final versus Toulouse in San Sebastian.

They have now confirmed an overhaul of their squad with Laurent Labit and Karim Ghezal set to take charge after their upcoming Rugby World Cup duty working as assistants to France coach Fabien Galthie.

Odogwu and Koch were among the casualties when 167 players and staff lost their jobs with last October’s announcement that Wasps has financially collapsed.

Both were quickly snapped up by Stade but their respective stays have now ended with one-time England prospect Odogwu set to compete for a place in the Italy Rugby World Cup squad and Koch doing likewise with the Springboks.

Paolo Odogwu has gone from the highs of an England squad call-up to lows of redundancy with Wasps, but come out the other side with Stade Francais and a spot in the wider Italian national squad.

It's been some ride…@RugbyTimes https://t.co/UrqzUohE8l

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 1, 2023

About Odogwu, Stade tweeted: “Arrived from Wasps during the season, our centre/winger is leaving after 12 games under our colours.” And about Koch, they posted: “Arrived from Wasps during the season, our mainstay world champion is returning home as the World Cup approaches.”

The full list of Stade leavers is: Arthur Coville (Provence), Alex Arrate, Jame Hall (Racing), Marcis Kremer (Clermont), Sione Tui (Provence), Telusa Veainu (Sale), Harry Glover, Nemo Roelofse (Perpignan), Morgan Parra (Stade Francais coaching staff), Theo Dachary, Vincent Koch, Paolo Odogwu, Sitaleki Timani. Coaches Gonzalo Quesada and Laurent Sempere will also exit.