Showing posts with label rugby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rugby. Show all posts
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Zinedine Zidane scores wonder try for France legends against Toulon
Zinedine's wonder try.
By Jack Gaughan for MailOnline
FRANCE 98 victors have taken on European rugby union champions Toulon in a charity match - with World Cup star Zinedine Zidane scoring a stunning try from his own half.
The two sides played 45 minutes of football and then rugby at the Toulon stadium headquarters on Tuesday.
Christian Karembeu popped a three-metre pass off to Zinedine Zidane on halfway and the mercurial Frenchman looked up and saw a miniscule gap in which to drive towards.
He dropped a shoulder, weaved in between two defenders and from there, just inside the opposition half, space opened up.
Two more trailed in his wake as 43-year-old Zidane moved through the gears, accelerating beyond them before nonchalantly checking back to see if they were giving chase.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Samoa's 'Rochelais monster' adds beef to the French Roosters
Profile (in French) on La Rochelle captain Uino Atonio. Source: Pierre Ammiche
FORMER Samoan and New Zealand prop Uini Atonio - the man they call the "Rochelais monster" - looks set for his Six Nations debut, making the 23-man French squad for this Saturday's assignment in Paris which his coach predicts will be an emotional moment in the wake of the country's recent terrorism attacks.
The 24-year-old, born in Timaru and a former Samoan under-20 international, gained his residency eligibility last year after joining French club La Rochelle in 2011 and made his debut against Fiji in November.
He made three appearances for France in that international window and has held his favour with coach Philippe Saint-André.
He's unofficially the biggest man to pull on a French jersey. So big in fact, that they had to get a special jersey made to accommodate his 1.97-metre and 146-kilogram frame.
For comparison's sake that makes Atonio shorter than the Wallabies' Will Skelton (2.03m tall, weighing 135kg), lighter than former Wellington and Fiji prop Bill Cavubati (1.89m tall, weighing 165kg), but all-around bigger than All Blacks loosie Jerome Kaino (1.96m tall, weighing 113kg).
FORMER Samoan and New Zealand prop Uini Atonio - the man they call the "Rochelais monster" - looks set for his Six Nations debut, making the 23-man French squad for this Saturday's assignment in Paris which his coach predicts will be an emotional moment in the wake of the country's recent terrorism attacks.
The 24-year-old, born in Timaru and a former Samoan under-20 international, gained his residency eligibility last year after joining French club La Rochelle in 2011 and made his debut against Fiji in November.
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| Unio Atonio |
He's unofficially the biggest man to pull on a French jersey. So big in fact, that they had to get a special jersey made to accommodate his 1.97-metre and 146-kilogram frame.
For comparison's sake that makes Atonio shorter than the Wallabies' Will Skelton (2.03m tall, weighing 135kg), lighter than former Wellington and Fiji prop Bill Cavubati (1.89m tall, weighing 165kg), but all-around bigger than All Blacks loosie Jerome Kaino (1.96m tall, weighing 113kg).
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Bula ... Fiji flyer Matanavou shows off his Toulouse rugby brand
Timoci Matanavou scores his fourth try in a Top 14 match against Lyon Olympique. Video: Stade Toulousain
By Shayal Devi in Toulouse, France
Many people often believe that when it comes to rugby, no one can hold a candle to the zealousness of Fijian fans.
And while this is evidently true in the way that Fijians follow the game, people in other parts of the world are equally captivated by the game.
Take the people of the south-western French city Toulouse, for example.
Fortunate enough to be part of a media group that travelled to France courtesy of Fiji Airways and the French Embassy in Fiji, I was able to see a different side of this beautiful European nation.
Slightly warmer than Paris, the fourth largest city of France felt just like home the moment we landed.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Haka politics as part of global rugby’s overdrive
The French “arrow” challenge to the All Blacks’ haka in the 2011 World Cup final – France lost narrowly 8-7.
By Brendan Bradford on Sportal
OPINION: The chief sportswriter for Britain’s Daily Telegraph, Oliver Brown, claims the haka is “scarcely more than a circus display” and that is “hidebound by political correctness”.
In a column for the Telegraph online, Brown implores his readers to grasp the “anomalousness” (yep, that’s a word we’re using now apparently) of the haka by recalling the “utter befuddlement” with which it was received by the American men’s basketball team at the recent World Cup.
Rather than incite fear in the opposition, writes Brown, the haka has become a “theatrically-rendered cultural curiosity,” and an “exotic sideshow”.
When you’ve got American-run competitions to find the best haka in the country in the lead up to the All Blacks’ game against the United States, the “cultural curiosity” tag is fair enough – but that’s not Brown’s complaint.
His grievance seems to be that the opposing team doesn’t have a right of reply – even though his main point is that the haka has become a sideshow.
By Brendan Bradford on Sportal
OPINION: The chief sportswriter for Britain’s Daily Telegraph, Oliver Brown, claims the haka is “scarcely more than a circus display” and that is “hidebound by political correctness”.
In a column for the Telegraph online, Brown implores his readers to grasp the “anomalousness” (yep, that’s a word we’re using now apparently) of the haka by recalling the “utter befuddlement” with which it was received by the American men’s basketball team at the recent World Cup.
Rather than incite fear in the opposition, writes Brown, the haka has become a “theatrically-rendered cultural curiosity,” and an “exotic sideshow”.
When you’ve got American-run competitions to find the best haka in the country in the lead up to the All Blacks’ game against the United States, the “cultural curiosity” tag is fair enough – but that’s not Brown’s complaint.
His grievance seems to be that the opposing team doesn’t have a right of reply – even though his main point is that the haka has become a sideshow.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
France's young rugby guns who could herald Les Bleus' revival
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| Racing Métro winger Teddy Thomas ... one of the young stars lighting up French rugby. Photo: Racing Métro |
As François Valentin writes, if the Top 14 competition is the El Dorado for many international superstars, the recent call-ups of Teddy Thomas, Charles Ollivon and Xavier Chiocci act as a reminder that France still has some very good local talent.
Here is a young, but competitive XV with very few caps (if any) that could form the backbone of Les Bleus in the next few years.
15 Geoffrey Palis (23 years old, Castres)
In his first season in the Top 14, and despite the presence of Brice Dulin (who is only a year older), Palis played 16 matches for a total of 103 points. Yes, Palis also kicks at goal, and is a pretty good shot too. That golden boot and his capacity to find space earned him a spot in the French 30-man list during the last Six Nations, although he didn't make his debut. Close behind, Darly Domvo hogged the full-back position for Bordeaux, starting 19 times last year and Hugo Bonneval from Stade Français is another huge talent, although he is currently recovering from a torn ACL.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Caveman Chabal, 'monument to marketing', bows out
Last year's infamous Caveman 'ko' against Marc Giroud moment for his Lyon club as captured on YouTube.
Special correspondent in Paris
SELF-STYLED caveman Sebastien Chabal retired from rugby on Sunday, the French forward bowing out with critics split over his rugby-playing abilities but no-one in doubt over his role as a "monument to marketing".
The 36-year-old Chabal won 62 caps for France as a powerhouse lock and back row forward, winning two Grand Slams, and his last act of a 16-year career came when he turned out a final time for Lyon, his current club which he has helped seal promotion from the ProD2 to the Top 14.
Lyon beat La Rochelle 27-26 on Sunday, Chabal coming on as a substitute to rapturous applause.
Chabal was one of the best-known and best-paid rugby players in the world, his dark beard and locks catapulting him into the public eye, with a couple of notable performances on the pitch in 2007.
"I adore rugby but I'm very conscious of the efforts needed to perform at the highest level," Chabal had said when announcing he would retire earlier in the week.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Now the feared Caveman Chabal is a 'currency fairy'
FRENCHMAN Sebastien Chabal used to be one of the most feared players in world rugby. And the tough second division Lyon forward has just been handed a three-week suspension for a punch that knocked out Agen’s Marc Giroud.
But the long-haired beast hardly looks scary in his new moonlighting role off the rugby field - dressed as a fairy for an Irish peer-to-peer currency conversion company's TV advert.
The 36-year-old sneaks up on a couple looking to exchange their holiday money, before introducing himself as “a fairy... a currency fairy”.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
'Scary' Caveman delivers the rugby knockout - officials see red
THE "Caveman" rugby star Sebastien Chabal has been a real knockout this week. He hit the headlines in France over for this KO blow on number eight Marc Giraud during the second division ProD2 match between Lyons and Agen at the weekend.
Giraud was carried off on a stretcher. Now aged 35, the former French icon is still playing rugby, plying his sporting prowess with Lyons in France.
He built a reputation for not only looking like one of the scariest men in the sport, but playing like it too, famously breaking All Black Ali Williams' jaw and knocking out Chris Masoe.
Not too long ago he announced that this would be his final season of rugby due to his body starting to feel the aches and pains that come with playing professionally for so long.
He clearly hasn't lost any of the competitive spirit though, as was seen, and felt by Agen eighthman Giraud.