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Teddy Thomas' belated Racing 92 exit reported in France
By Ian Cameron
Reports in the South of France suggest that Teddy Thomas will leave Racing 92 at the end of the current season to sign with Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle.
Rumours that the France international wanted out of Paris started last season, with reports linking him to a move to Toulouse back in February, but it seems the yellow and blacks on the west coast have won the race to sign the try scoring phenom.
The previous Toulouse deal had also been forecast as a 'done deal' until an apparent last-minute change of heart on the part of Thomas and Racing. Headlines at the time claimed that the capital side did not wish to renew his contract. "According to our information, Racing has decided not to renew the contract of its international winger Teddy Thomas which expires next June,” L’Equipe reported the time.
Nevertheless, according to information from Sud Ouest, Thomas is set to join La Rochelle on a three-year deal. It will bring to an end an eight-year stint at the Parisian side.
The 28-year-old started his professional career at Biarritz before transferring to Jacky Lorenzetti’s resurgent Racing in 2012. The versatile back has now been capped 28-times by France and is one of Fabien Galthié’s major attacking weapons in this year’s Guinness Six Nations.
What is behind the parting of the proven try scorer and the club where he made his career remains unclear. It's quite the coup for Les Maritimes, who signed fellow France centre Jonathan Danty from Racing over the summer.
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Latest Comments
At least he no longer writes articles related to the All Blacks. The suggestion with these ratings is that the ABs have a lot more left in the tank... Which is nonsense, this was a nail biter of a test of the highest standard and both sides we're going at it hammer and tongs. As is often the case in rugby, the team that managed to score the most tries won.
Go to commentsWho, the ABs? Oh for sure, they punched above their weight in that cup, but also had got a lot better than anyone had thought they could (except perhaps SAn's) well out from the WC (to the point where you were disappointed not to win it). Then they've probably done the most post analyzing of their RWCs in the past, due to all their failures, they knew how to maximize their itinerary and that first game against France was of less importance than any one off test was against. At least a test like this weekends had meaning, even if it's not surrounded by any overarching point. That first match in the RWC though, along with the Ireland v SA game, were totally meaningless. Everyone already knew they were only going to be up against each other, and that's why NZ were only at around 70% during it.
So you're quite right, it was pointless to make as much out of it as this author did. The same pretty much goes for 2 years prior as well, because that's obviously before the above happened. NZ were at least trying very hard in that game, and although it needed some Ntamack magic at the end, France looked pretty comfortable, or should I say, NZ very poor. That picture obviously turned around this year, but still with that fabulous French flair scoring some crazy tries to win it again.
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