Explaining the Exodus: Why are so many British players heading to France?

The latest round of Autumn Internationals has re-opened the debate about picking foreign-based players.

Ex-France scrum-half Dmitri Yachvili said in Rugby World that foreign players coming to France is stifling their homegrown talent. It doesn’t seem to have affected the national team however, who went 3 from 3 and played some good rugby, lead superbly by born-again Freddy Michalak, or ‘Michelou’ as he’s known as here.

England left out Steffon Armitage despite his form for Toulon, and his brother Delon, consistently in the Top 14 team of the week, hasn’t even been mentioned. Lee Byrne and Luke Charteris don’t qualify for selection but James Hook does, which is all very confusing. So if moving to France means risking an international career, why do so many players continue to do so? Everyone assumes that the simple answer is money. However, there is so much more to it than that. In Britain, the sports news is dominated by football, the sports coverage favours football, and the football matches get the biggest crowds and the stadiums evenget chosen to host rugby matches over rugby stadiums. In France, it’s completely different. Not only does rugby dominate the sports pages of the daily papers, there are actually entire newspapers devoted to rugby, Midi-Olympique being the biggest, with everything from double page spreads for individual games to local U11 games. Every small village between cities has their own stadium, not a pitch, but a stadium, which will be full every weekend without fail. At the weekends you can watch more rugby on French TV than you can football on Sky Sports. The fact is that in France, the south in particular, “Le rugby est sacré” as some one told me. The players are worshipped like heroes, and even young girls follow the results with some concern. Is this any different to Britain? You can’t question the devotion of rugby fans in the UK, but rugby in France has a little more glamour than back home. Whether it be the cheerleaders and fireworks before kick-off or the prospect of playing in front of 60,000 fans during the regular season, the attractions for home based players to move to France is extensive. Whereas in England or Spain, its not uncommon to see football stars immortalized on giant billboards promoting the latest video game or luxury sports car, in France, the rugby players get the pick of the sponsorship deals. Christophe Dominici, long gone from international rugby, is advertising soft drinks during every half-time break. Serge Blanco has created, and models for a clothing line. It appears that the rugby community in France look after each other, and perhaps the foreign players want to get in on this, perhaps they felt the hostile press at home was unjustly harsh on them and wanted to be appreciated a little more. Well, France is definitely the place to come for that. The reviews and opinions in the press are so comprehensive, you realize that rugby, the game takes priority over everything, and the politics takes a back seat. Something which must be refreshing for British players. Yes, it may mean a lack of talent on the International stage, but it may also mean that the suits in control of rugby back home may finally get there act together and attempt to challenge the French for the pick of the talent. It will be a tough mission though, I saw that Clermont v Toulon match, and besides being a cracking match, the foreign players on display didn’t seem to be bothered by missing out on the Autumn Internationals, and looked as happy as anyone to be playing in such an environment where they can focus on their individual performance, knowing that they will get the praise and publicity that their talents deserve.

It is something that concerns me, as knowing all this, I don’t see much stopping more players coming here, and with the Home Nations performances over the last few weeks being as they were, the Southern Hemisphere may be dominating the international stage for a while.