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The Bath verdict on the France-bound Jonathan Joseph

(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Bath have finally acknowledged the departure of Jonathan Joseph 15 days after the ex-England midfielder was confirmed as a signing for the 2023/24 season by Biarritz, the French Pro D2 club. The 32-year-old, who played for his country off the bench in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final versus the Springboks, opted to try his luck overseas following a decade at The Rec.

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Joseph’s signing on a two-year deal was announced on July 4, the same day that Biarritz also unveiled controversial prop Mohamed Haouas following the collapse of his new contract at Clermont and his axing from the France squad ahead of the upcoming World Cup after a court case in Montpellier.

Biarritz have since announced the arrivals of Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb, ex-Wasps winger Zach Kibirige and former Harlequins second row Charlie Matthews.

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England World Cup kit

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England World Cup kit

A Bath statement read: “Bath can officially confirm that after 10 seasons Jonathan Joseph has left the club to pursue a playing opportunity with Biarritz Olympique. Having spent his early professional years with London Irish, Joseph joined Bath in 2013 and made his debut against Newcastle Falcons early in the season.

“One of the club’s longest-standing players, Joseph has accumulated 176 appearances, scoring 41 tries along the way. Earning international honours with England, Joseph has 54 caps and he embarked on the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 2017.

“After impressing at both club and international levels, Joseph was named the RPA players’ player of the year and England player of the year in 2015. Joseph started all five games of England’s 2016 Six Nations campaign, playing a key cog in their first Grand Slam win in over a decade.

“The international featured in the last two Rugby World Cup tournaments, earning six caps in 2019. He featured for England in their quarter-final and semi-final wins against Australia and New Zealand and was a runner-up in the final to South Africa.”

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Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan said: “JJ has made an immense contribution to Bath. He has achieved a huge amount in both his club career and on a Test match level and will be considered a Bath Rugby legend for years to come.”

Joseph added: “My time at Bath has come to an end as I step away from the club to begin a new chapter of my professional career. I have many fond memories. Playing at The Rec in front of a sold-out crowd is not something every rugby player can say they have done.

“To have done it over and over again is just a testament to the Bath supporters’ loyalty as well as my coaches’ belief in me. I feel it is the right time for me in my career to pursue new opportunities and see what else is out there for me.”

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J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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