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Ronan O'Gara has a new flyhalf option at La Rochelle
By Stefan Frost
La Rochelle have signed flyhalf Antoine Hastoy from Pau as a replacement for Ihaia West, who is leaving the European Champions this summer for Toulon.
Hastoy has been a loyal servant at Pau since 2015, but admits in an interview with Midi Olympique this weekend to frustrations at the team's inability to make it into title contention. With a move north to La Rochelle, the 25-year-old hopes to rekindle his dream of lifting the Top 14 and even earn an international call up.
“I want to win titles,” Hastoy told Midi Olympique. “When I met the people at La Rochelle, I immediately knew that I wanted to go there and nowhere else. From the first meeting I was sure of my choice.
“I’m really excited to join a club that has proven that it is capable of winning."
Since the start of the 2018/19 season, Pau have not finished higher than tenth and just narrowly avoided relegation from the Top 14 in that time. These poor showings encouraged Hastoy to begin looking for a fresh start.
“Previous seasons at Pau made me want to look elsewhere. We had just experienced three difficult seasons and I wanted more. Mentally it’s really hard to live with never knowing what we were going to do next season. And also knowing that you can’t play for the title.”
It is not just the trophy credentials of La Rochelle that interested Hastoy. By playing for a team near the top of the league, he also foresees a opportunity to show off his pedigree and force an international call up in the near future.
“The French team is there in the corner of my head. I know I have to play in important matches otherwise it would be impossible to get any higher. That’s why joining a team that can perform in the league and in the European Cup was important.”
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Yeah nar I pretty much agree with that sentiment, wasn't just about the lineout though.
Yeah, I think it's the future of SR, even TRC. Graham above just now posting about how good a night it was with a dbl header of ENGvSA and NZvFrance, and now I don't want to kick SA or Argentina out of TRC but it would be great if in this next of the woods 2 more top teams could come in to create more of these sort of nights (for rugby's appeal). Often Arg and SA and both travel here and you get those games but more often doesn't work out right.
Obviously a long way off but USA and Japan are the obvious two. First thing we need to do is get Eddie Jones kicked out of Japan so they can start improving again and then get a couple of US teams in SRP (even if one its just a US based and augmented Jaguares).
It will start off the whole conferences are crap debate again (which I will continue to argue vehemently against), but imagine a 6 team Pacific conference, Tokyo Sunwolves (drafted from Tokyo JRLO teams), Tokyo All Stars (made up of best remaining foreign players and overseas drafts), ALL Nihon (best of local non Tokyo based talent, inc China/Korea etc, with mainland Japan), a could of West Coast american franchises and perhaps a second self PI driven Hawai'i based team, or Jagaures. So I see a short NFL like 3 or 4 month comp as fitting best, maybe not even a full round, NZvAUSvPAC, all games taking place within a 6hr window. Model for NZ will definitely still require a competitive and funded NPC!
On the Crusaders, I liked last years ending with Grace on the bench (ovbiously form dependent but thats how it ended) and Lio-Willie at 8. I could have Blackadder trying to be a 7 but think balance will be used with him at 6 and Kellow as 7. Scott Barrett is an international 6 sized player. It is just NZ style/model that pushes him into the tight, I reckon he'd be a great loose player, and saders have Strange and Cahill as bigger players (plus that change could draw someone like Darry back). Same with Haig now, hes not grown yet but Barrett hight and been playing 6, now that the Highlanders have only chosen two locks he'll be playing lock, and that is going to change his growth trajectory massively, rather than seeing him grow like an International 6.
Go to commentsDan Carter is the leading points scorer and leading points per game person for a player with significant tests. 2s RWC winner and member of the games greatest ever team. It's not even close. The only question of GOAT for rugby is whether McCaw deserves it given Carter's numbers.
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