Report claims Laumape in line for Top 14 move from Hurricanes while ex-All Blacks lock Bird is set to quit Racing
Stade Francais are believed to be in negotiations with All Blacks midfielder Ngani Laumape over a possible move to France for the 2021/22 Top 14 season, while Racing 92's former All Blacks lock Dominic Bird is now set to leave the club despite it being announced last November that he would stay on beyond the end of the current season.
Parisian club Stade are on the hunt for a new centre as they will lose Gael Fickou to capital city rivals Racing at the end of this season and the soon-to-be 28-year-old Laumape, who has recently featured for the All Blacks under Ian Foster, is now on their radar according to Midi Olympique, the bi-weekly French rugby newspaper.
The Midi report claimed: "Stade have established contacts with the entourage of Ngani Laumape for some time now. "The New Zealand centre, who plays for the Hurricanes, would not be opposed to an experiment in France. On the contrary, anyone with 15 caps for the All Blacks knows he is not a top pick in his country.
"Remember, for the World Cup in Japan in 2019, coach Steve Hansen had chosen him to do the preparation but finally decided to forgo his services just as the official selection was announced. Hansen preferred Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty, Jack Goodhue and Anton Lienert-Brown to him.
"Since then, the Hurricanes player has returned to the selection under new coach Ian Foster. He played two Rugby Championship fixtures in October and November, but he could well choose to join Stade Francais next season. However, another track leads to the Argentinian centre Santiago Chocobares which bears the colours of the Jaguares. The 22-year-old said he was interested."
Bird, meanwhile, was one of six players said by Racing five months ago to have signed contract extensions, the other players being Finn Russell, Boris Palu, Olivier Klemenczak, Dorian Laborde and Gia Kharaishvili. However, it is now claimed he will instead leave at the end of this season due to personal reasons.
In an in-depth January interview with RugbyPass, Bird said: “I’m currently 29 and would like to think I could play to 36 if not longer. Second rows are kind of special in the sense that guys can play a bit longer. At no stage lately have I thought I’m ready to have a breather or ready to have a change-up. I’m still very, very hungry for it. We’ll keep rolling for as long as we can and then afterwards life is likely to be in New Zealand. I’m toying with a lot of different things."
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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