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RNZ News
09-07-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
French rugby team turns nose up at Hamilton ahead of test
Samantha Wiria from Hamilton's French cafe Le Rendez-vous Creperie wanted to see her countrymen in her adopted city. Photo: RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod The French rugby team have caused a stir with their decision to go to Auckland after this weekend's test match, staying there before the series finale against the All Blacks in Hamilton on 19 July. Chatting at his store near Garden Place in Hamilton, Hanrad Bespoke Rugs owner Barry Radford said it was disappointing the French team was choosing Auckland over Hamilton. "They've got a sell-out stadium. It would be good if they kind of supported that," he said. However, a rug shopper wondered what Hamilton had to offer. "Is there anything exciting for them to do here? I guess in Auckland they've got lots to do... without being disrespectful to Hamilton," she said. Les Bleus said they are staying in Auckland simply because there they have access to high performance facilities and larger hotels. Yet Hamilton and Waikato Tourism general manager, Nicola Greenwell, said Waikato was the home of lots of high-performance sport. "We've got the velodrome just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from the airport from Hamilton city, the rowing at Karapiro, there's a lot of high-performance sportspeople who are based here." For rugby, she considered the facilities at the Chiefs centre to be first class. "Maybe we didn't want to share that?" she wondered. Harmony Jade from Beast Style Fitness in Hamilton says the city is full of athletes. Photo: Natalie Akoorie Harmony Jade from Beast Style Fitness also thought Hamilton was a great place for athletes. "We are very athletic people. I know that there are so many athletes here in Hamilton," she said. She wondered if the French team even knew much about Hamilton. "I don't think they even know who we are... they shouldn't judge before they get to know who we are." Greenwell said there was plenty of visitor beds in Hamilton for the team but conceded if the whole touring party wanted to stay in one hotel that would limit their options. But she said Hamilton was working on that. "We do have new hotels coming - the Pullman will be opening at the end of next year and that will absolutely be ample room for those French rugby players." Hamilton Business Association chief executive Vanessa Williams said the new Pullman hotel development was exciting for the city and would add to what Hamilton could already offer. "It's going to be very exciting to host bigger and better things," she said. Williams said it was always disappointing to hear about travellers who only go to one place and explore one thing. "I think it's a great opportunity to actually come down and enjoy something different." Hamilton Business Association general manager Vanessa Williams says a new hotel in the city next year will boost bed capacity. Photo: Libby Kirkby-McLeod / RNZ She said there was lots to enjoy in and around Hamilton as a visitor to New Zealand. "But you need to be down here to enjoy them." Hamilton also had a touch of French culture which the French team could have enjoyed. Bordeaux-born Samantha Wiria from Le Rendez-vous Creperie said she had been really looking forward to welcoming the French team to town and having them come in and sample some of their crepes. "We were hopeful that we would see them walking around in the CBD," she said. Despite her disappointment she said she'll still be at the game cheering for the French side. "As much as we are always behind the All Blacks in any game they have, when they play the French we put on the blue, white, red, and support the team." And it's out on the field where locals think the issue will truly be settled. "The team are the losers at the end of the day, and maybe that might be what sets the tone for the game," Greenwell said. Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate said the sweet victory for the city would be when the All Blacks beat the French in Hamilton in the test series finale. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
France 24
04-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Scott Barrett says All Blacks not 'disrespected' by France
Speaking at the end of a team training at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, Barrett said his team would not take lightly a French team lacking experience. "We're certainly not reading into anything, that it's a weakened French side," Barrett told reporters. "Any French side you have to give the utmost respect, and we've certainly prepared like that. "We haven't had much success in recent years against the French so we're looking to turn that around." The French squad contains 20 uncapped players total, out of 42 tourists. Many of the best French players were left at home, owing to injury or the long European season. "I don't think it's disrespectful," Barrett said of the team French coach Fabien Galthie had selected. "Fabien and their management will select a team that's appropriate to play us tomorrow night, and with debutants and a mix of experience on the bench I'm sure they'll be firing everything at us." All Blacks coach Scott Robertson echoed those sentiments Thursday, saying France had enviable depth. "This is when they're probably at their most dangerous when they're underestimated," Robertson said. "It's quite nice that you guys tell the story that they're depleted and all that, then they get their backs up and we get a ferocious French team." The All Blacks will be able to lean on the experience of three Barrett brothers on Saturday night -- captain Scott, fly-half Beauden, and inside centre Jordie have more than 280-caps combined for New Zealand. But add in uncapped flanker Du'Plessis Kirifi, and you have four players who worked the Barrett family farm. "Du'Plessis was good friends with Jordie at school and he came out to the farm," Scott Barrett said. "We were doing home kill one day and he mucked in and helped out... so it's great to see him get his opportunity tomorrow night. "I actually said personally to Du'Plessis that he's certainly ready for Test match rugby. "He plays a physical game, combative, loves the breakdown, so he's going to be a real asset to this team going forward." And speaking of his brother Jordie, who has just returned from a sabbatical playing for Leinster, Scott Barrett said he has added to his skill set during his time away. "It's been a great experience for him. He's brought a few things back which is great for this group and I'm sure he'll be looking to put a great performance in." © 2025 AFP
Irish Times
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Gerry Thornley: Leinster still most likely disruptors to undisputed era of the French
It has been forecast before, and has proven premature, but this is it then. We're in the very midst of it now. The era of the French. Top 14 clubs are now dominating European rugby like never before and beating them to the trophy has never looked more difficult. Of course there have always been, and always will be, different cycles. Nothing lasts forever. Northampton's 9-8 win over Munster in 2000 heralded a run of four English winners in a period of five seasons. From 2006 to 2012, there were five Irish champions in seven years. Ah, blissful times! Alas, only one in the last 13 years. From 2013 to 2015 there was that Toulon three-in-a-row as they hit the tournament like a tornado, before English clubs provided four of the next five champions – three of them by Saracens, who were subsequently derided and relegated for financial doping. But never before has one country accounted for five Champions Cup triumphs in succession. What's more, Union Bordeaux Bègles (UBB) became the third different French winner in this era, emulating La Rochelle's maiden win in 2022 over Leinster in Marseille, by beating Northampton in Cardiff last Saturday. READ MORE That old chestnut about the French being Eurosceptics, save for Toulouse, has never looked so hoary. In truth, on foot of Toulouse and Brive winning the first two European Cups and Colomiers reaching the final in the fourth season it was always a bit of a myth anyway and perhaps distorted by Castres' seemingly dilettante attitude. Five different French clubs account for their 13 titles – Toulouse (six), Toulon (three), La Rochelle (two), Brive and UBB one apiece. England's 10 titles have come from six clubs and Ireland's seven trophies have been shared among three of the provinces. But the French have also provided six other finalists, including Clermont and Racing 92, who have each lost three deciders. That hardly indicates disinterest. Bordeaux players celebrate in the dressing room after the game. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho As well as the 5,000 or more UBB fans who travelled to Cardiff and matched the 20,000 Saints fans for noise and colour, a crowd of 25,000 filled out the fan zone in Bordeaux to watch the match on a giant screen and nearly 40,000 people gathered around the Place des Quinconces on Sunday for the team's civic reception and open top parade. Pierre Hurmic, the Mayor of Bordeaux, exclaimed: 'We have definitively proven, if it was necessary, that Bordeaux is a great rugby city.' President Emmanuel Macron posted on X: 'Wine is not the only Bordeaux treasure: the Union Bordeaux Bègles inscribes its name in gold letters in the European legend of rugby! Bravo. With panache and heart, France is proud.' As well as other Top 14 and ProD2 clubs, the Barcelona and French footballer Jules Koundé congratulated his fellow Girondins, as did PSG ahead of their Champions League final against Inter Milan next Saturday. UBB's triumph is timely too. The most recent French TV deal in the post-pandemic world of 2022 was reputedly reduced from €30 million to €16 million. Yet, on foot of EPCR botching TNT's offer to renew its €15 million per year contract and having to accept roughly half that from Premier Sports, French television still remains the main broadcasting backer. Union Bordeaux Bègles' Maxime Lucu celebrates. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho True, it's dwarfed by the Canal+ eight-year extension of €696.8m to show all Top 14 rugby until 2032, which is worth €139.4m a season, but EPCR's next four-year deal with beIN Sports and France Télévisions is expected to be confirmed later this week. In addition to beIN Sports again broadcasting every Champions Cup match, as well as some Challenge Cup fixtures, France Télévisions (ever presents since 1995-96) will continue to cover two Champions Cup matches, and Challenge Cup fixture, on a free-to-air basis each weekend. Such is the tournament's reach in France that the Toulon-Toulouse quarter-final drew a record 3.2 million viewers. By contrast, from next season onwards, as part of Premier Sports' contracts with EPCR, the subscription channel will have exclusive coverage of the Champions and Challenge Cups. No matches will be on free-to-air, and that goes for the URC as well, save for TG4. In so many respects therefore, the French are now the heartbeat of European rugby. Yannick Bru described this as the best of the four Champions Cups he has won as a player, assistant coach and now head coach. Their president, Laurent Marti, who has masterminded their rise from formation in 2006 through promotion in 2011, couldn't stop grinning when talking to the French media in the Principality Stadium mixed zone. 'I prefer to be champion of France but I discovered the Champions Cup from a different angle,' he admitted. 'I understand better why some people love it. It's magical because it's international, and I think that without Yannick [Bru], we wouldn't have won it.' UBB benefited from the draw, securing a maximum 20 points in the pool stages with a 66-12 win at home to the Sharks a week after Toulouse failed to earn a bonus point away to the South Africans. This effectively led to UBB having home advantage in the semi-finals against Toulouse. Still, they beat six-time former champions, with 13 titles between them, en route to their first star and scored 54 tries in their eight matches. Leinster fans will forever lament that semi-final defeat and wonder what might have been, but Champions Cups usually get the champions it deserves. What's more, you look at players like Louis Bielle-Biarrey (21), Yoram Moefana (24), Nicolas Depoortère (22) and backrower Marko Gazzotti (21), and UBB look here to stay. Coupled with the arrival of the South African franchises, this tournament has never been harder for an Irish side to win. Realistically, Leinster remain the most viable contender by a distance. Their playing budget, swelled by 11 central contracts, is probably in the ballpark of €9-9.5 million, with a chunk of that underwritten by the IRFU. But the union recoup all the fees generated by the provinces from the EPCR and URC. They also receive a sizeable amount of money, previously €250,000 to €300,000 from Leinster hiring the Aviva Stadium, and also pocket 50 per cent of Leinster's share of the gate receipts from, say, a Champions Cup home quarter-final, which could be €350,000 to €400,000. Still, Leinster maximise their socio-economic advantages, akin to Toulouse and UBB, and their playing budget is not a world away from the Top 14 salary cap of €10.5 million. It's also more than the €7.75 million of Premiership clubs such as Northampton. The playing budgets of Connacht, Munster and Ulster probably range from €4 million to €6 million but like pretty much everyone else belts are being tightened. Money talks, and although they lost a semi-final at home to Northampton, Leinster remain the likeliest threat to this Era of the French.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Thursday night blockbuster to start 2026 Six Nations
Ireland will travel to defending champions France in the first-ever Thursday night fixture in Six Nations' history when the 2026 tournament begins on 5 and France have won the last four titles between them and their blockbuster 20:10 GMT encounter has been brought forward to avoid a clash with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan the following shift is designed to maximise audiences in France. The finale of last year's tournament, when France beat Scotland to secure the title, returned record Six Nations audiences in France with 9.5m people (a 46% share of viewers) watching live on France2., externalThe 2026 tournament recorded a 6.3% increase in audience in domestic markets has also been confirmed there will be only one rest weekend, rather than the previous two, in the 2026 tournament. 2026 Six Nations fixtures in full (all times GMT) Round 1France v Ireland - Thursday 5 February (20:10)Italy v Scotland - Saturday 7 February (14:10)England v Wales - Saturday 7 February (16:40)Round 2Ireland v Italy - Saturday 14 February (14:10)Scotland v England - Saturday 14 February (16:40)Wales v France - Sunday 15 Feburary (15:10)Round 3 England v Ireland - Saturday 21 February (14:10)Wales v Scotland - Saturday 21 February (16:40)France v Italy - Sunday 22 February (15:10)Round 4Ireland v Wales - Friday 6 March (20:10)Scotland v France - Saturday 7 March (14:10)Italy v England - Saturday 7 March (16:40)Round 5 Ireland v Scotland - Saturday 14 March (14:10)Wales v Italy - Saturday 14 March (16:40)France v England - Saturday 14 March (20:10) The opening three rounds of matches will be played in successive weeks, with the weekend of 28 February and 1 March left final two rounds will follow on successive weekends, ending in a 'Super Saturday' of back-to-back fixtures with France hosting England in the final match. It is hoped the shorter length of the tournament will allow it to gather more momentum, with narratives holding the public attention more the third round of fixtures would have been sandwiched between two rest France take on Ireland, the rest of the opening round of fixtures sees Scotland travel to Italy on Saturday, 7 February (14:10 GMT) and England host Wales on the same day (16:40 GMT).France are still to confirm the venues for their French Rugby Federation said in December it had not yet received a satisfactory proposal to stay at the Stade de France, their usual Paris added it was considering "the various opportunities available" played in Marseille, Lille and Lyon in the 2024 Six Nations while preparations for the Olympics in Paris meant the Stade de France was off three venues can hold more than 50,000, but none can match the 80,000 capacity and revenue generated by the Stade de France. Six Nations organisers have also confirmed that the 2026 women's tournament will kick off three weeks later than the 2025 edition, pushing it to an April start and May finish. The change is part of new and separate global calendar for the women's game. It means England's PWR season will conclude after mid-summer with the top flight having a rest weekend followed by two regular-season rounds, semi-finals and a 27 June final after the conclusion of the Women's Six Nations.
