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Bastareaud set July 8 deadline to sort out short-term future... and he isn't short of options
By Online Editors
Mathieu Bastareaud’s short-term future remains up in the air following his omission from the France squad for the World Cup in Japan.
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.
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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Latest Comments
There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.
Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.
Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.
They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.
Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.
Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen
Go to commentsWas it? I just brought it up in some of my posts to rub it in that the AB last year nearly put 100 on a top 6N side lol
I agree to be honest. The biggest key to me that they might be jadded was none of them had mom performances, or even as good as their last three games.
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