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Former French giants Biarritz ready to splash the cash on two frontrowers - reports
By Alex Shaw
It’s been a tough few years for Biarritz Olympique, with the former giants of French rugby plying their trade in Pro D2 since 2014 and struggling to make their way back to the Top 14.
They have qualified for the promotion playoffs in two of the four seasons they have spent in the competition, but currently sit 8th in the table as we pass the halfway mark of the season, four points off of 6th and the promotion playoffs.
Finances and player recruitment and retention have been an issue for the club in recent years, but the future is beginning to look brighter for the two-time Heineken Cup finalists, with Rugbyrama reporting the additions of two key front rowers for the 2019/20 season.
According to the report, Montpellier hooker Romain Ruffenach and club teammate Yvan Watremez are both heading back to Biarritz in the summer.
Ruffenach, 24, spent four years in French Basque Country after coming through the La Rochelle academy, clocking up over 65 appearances for the club between 2012 and 2016. His move to Montpellier has not been as fruitful as he would have hoped on the pitch, with opportunities few and far between behind Bismarck du Plessis.
With Guilhem Guirado on his way to the club and even reports of Dane Coles being lined up, Ruffenach’s prospects of playing time in Montpellier are not likely to increase anytime soon.
Watremez, 29, started his career at Biarritz before moving to Montpellier in the summer of 2012, a summer in which he won his sole cap for France, when Les Bleus toured Argentina. The loosehead has made over 100 appearances for Montpellier to date and had been an integral part of the club’s rise to prominence, but opportunities for Watremez have begun to dry up, too.
The pair are proven operators at the Top 14 level - with Ruffenach's RPI sitting at a healthy 72, despite a bit-part role - and should significantly bolster Biarritz next season, whether that’s in a bid to survive in the Top 14 or win promotion from the Pro D2 at the sixth time of asking.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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