France

Wow, what a weekend of rugby that was!

The draw for the 2015 Rugby World Cup has been made

Money and sport is an emotive issue. Footballers, we are told, are obscenely overpaid for kicking a bit of air-filled plastic around, with their manicured mates.

Here is my Autumn International Test Rugby Review following the weekend, from a New Zealand perspective.

"Rugby may have many problems but the gravest is undoubtedly that of the persistence of summer..."

The launch of the 2012/13 French Top 14 season may still be over a month away, but there has been a raft of activity in the transfer merry-go-round...

The June International Matches leaves me wondering if there should be a Northern vs Southern Hemisphere rugby series at the end of the year, so some players who are injured now would still be available.

While the rise and rise of French club rugby due to the massive amounts of money being pumped into clubs across the country is nothing new, the recent influx of world class players to French shores has got the whole of the northern hemisphere talking...

With the British and Irish Lions 2013 tour to Australia countdown now less than a year away, we thought at Talking Rugby Union we would publish our British and Irish Lions teams we would play.

Throughout its history, France has had its fair share of mad kings and revolutions.

A scrappy affair in Rome saw Italy avoid the Wooden Spoon for a sixth year in a row beating Scotland 13-6.

The Rugby Union Fans Six Nations team of the tournament, this is based on player performance throughout the competition and not on the talent levels of the individual player;

Azzurri coach Jacques Brunel has made six changes to his Italy side that will face Scotland in the wooden spoon decider on Saturday afternoon.

England produced their best performance of the 2012 Six Nations to claim a 24-22 victory over France, in a classic test match at the Stade de France.

An action packed weekend of Top 14 action saw leaders Toulouse narrowly escape a shock defeat to Castres in a seven-try thriller at the Stade Ernest-Wallon

Wales captain Sam Warburton has been ruled out of Saturday's clash with Italy after he failed to recover from a knee injury.

For reasons determined only by the rugby Gods everything is now measured by France. How was the pitch; was it more playable than the Stade de France?

This weekend's only fixture sees France take on Ireland at the Stade de France after the original fixture was postponed three weeks ago due to a frozen pitch.

With the cold snap across France waning, the 18th round of the Top 14 sees a full complement of fixtures as the battle for the play-offs and relegation heats up.

Ireland are unhappy with Six Nations Ltd's decision to play their rescheduled match with France on Sunday, March 4.