1
Toulon owner follows through on Rhys Webb threat
By Josh Raisey
In the first fixture since Toulon owner Bernard Lemaitre suggested Ospreys-bound scrumhalf Rhys Webb will not play for the club again, he has been omitted from their contest against the Scarlets this Sunday in the Challenge Cup.
Lemaitre had said that it was unlikely that Webb would represent the three-time Champions Cup winners again due to his dishonest attitude, relating to his move back to the Ospreys at the end of the season, which in turn allows him to represent Wales at this year’s Six Nations. Webb is set to leave the French club despite having another year left on his contract after his family had moved back to Wales.
However, Lemaitre’s predecessor Mourad Boudjellal had the reputation at times of being full of sound and fury but signifying nothing, particularly with regards to his spat with All Black Julian Savea last season, whereby he also insisted that the winger would not play for Toulon again. Savea continued to play, and still does to this day.
However, Webb has been excluded from the 27-man squad that will travel to the Parc y Scarlets this weekend, and has been put down as one that is ‘outside the group’.
Toulon head coach Patrice Collazo has turned to France’s Baptiste Serin and the 21-year-old Yoan Cottin in the Welshman’s absence, although Serin would have started ahead of him in all likelihood anyway.
Toulon currently sit at the top of Pool 2 in the Challenge Cup, and a victory on Sunday would given them an unassailable lead at the top of the group, as the Scarlets currently sit four points behind them. This would also put the French side in a good position to grab a home quarter-final, although they will have to make do without Webb for the time being, as Lemaitre has not yet backtracked.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
3
Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose midfielder
4
Scott Robertson responds about handling errors
5
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.
Go to comments