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Bayonne sign Lauaki, Chisholm, Heymans, Tialata and Rokocoko

Joe Rokocoko signs for Bayonne

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Article translated by me from Bayonne website: http://www.abrugby.fr/actu/detail.aspx?NUM_ACTU=2788

The All Black international wing Joe Rokocoko (1.89m, 98kg), has signed for the next two seasons (with an option of a third) for Bayonne.

Was seen at one point as the successor for Jonah Lomu, Rokocoko who will be 28 in June has played 68 matches with the All Blacks. Elected one of the best players on the planet in 2003, he has since played in two World Cups and is in the Graham Henry's provisional All Blacks squad for the World Cup later this year. He won't join Bayonne until the end of the tournament.

"He is a young player with experience, he is still only 27, says Christian Gajan, the director of rugby at the club. We are getting what we wanted, the 10 or so players who are leaving to be replaced by 5 or 6 players high quality players with experience. Joe has an advantage, as well as playing wing, he can play centre, it is a great signing for the club".

For several weeks, Christian Gajan has been in talks with Rokocoko, who plays in Super Rugby for the Auckland Blues: "He knows all about the Top 14 and how Bayonne are doing. We feel he has passion and good mentality and hasn't come here on holiday".

Bayonne have now nearly finished their recruitment, with just one or two to be confirmed now, after the signings already announced of Cédric Heymans, Sione Lauaki and Neemia Tialata. "We are still in talks with one or two experienced players, we will have a squad of 30 to 35 professionals, we will train with 42 players including players from the youth setup. There is not going to be any more foreign players than there were last season". Gajan added.
 
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ZeFrenchy said:
Midi Olympique, the same rugby newspaper that has published all three moves before they were official, mentions Rokocoko moving to Bayonne as well.
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And they were right.
Perhaps an administrator could merge the Rokocoko/Bayonne thread into this one?
 
TRF_Olyy said:
Still can't believe he's only 27

Decent signing for Bayonne
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yes, when players make their debut so young it seems like they've been around for ages, look at Wilkinson most people think he's like 35 on his last legs but he's still just 31.

Likewise the Bergamasco brothers have been around for ages yet are only 28 and 32.

and Schalk Burger is still just 28

on Rokocoko, I'm don't know why Lauaki, Heymans, Rokocoko, Chisholm are all attracted to play for a team with such a circus going on behind the scenes.

Also I think they're signings are all flashy, but they need some quality to do the unglamorous work up front

When Latham and Gear were at Worcester, they were big name signings but ineffective because they never got the ball in attack because Worcester hadn't good enough players to give them the ball.

teams should invest in a big hard nosed pack first to become decent, a quality fetcher at number 7 and goal kicker to become quite good, and then some creativity and a finisher to become good
 
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Look likes Bayonne is going to have a strong team in the next season.
I wonder why he was not signed by one of the top clubs
 
To get the full picture of Bayonne next season here is what their squad will look like: (apart from a couple of players will be released and perhaps another two signed)

 
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Add to that that Byron Kelleher is likely to join there too. Could be interesting.
 
No surprise to see Rokocoko sign to play in France, as it was clear he wasn't going to sign with the NZRFU. I'm sure his decision to go to Bayonne may have been influenced by the number of other New Zealanders that have signed to play there. He certainly isn't the player he was when burst onto the scene, but he still shows flashes of brilliance, is probably among the most powerful wings around, and has a good work-rate. I expect he will do well in France.
 
:( In my opinion, on form he was the greatest winger around. 17 tries in one year. He was the AB go to man. I guess it'll be good to see him get some extra cash, but I'd love it if he had a couple more games for the All Blacks. I predict he'll do well in France, and without the pressure of the All Blacks, maybe he'll refind his mojo.
 
Well Rokocoko is basically THE best (and most famous) player to ever sign in our team.. i bet even on an average day he will bring a lot to the squad, in both experience, skills, and aura.

Not only that, Bayonne is "famous" in France for having many negociations going on with starplayers, and basically signing NONE. Now that the circus behind the scene is over, signups like Rokocoko, Heymans or Chilsholm, might start to attract other players (not signup only for the money).. so it's indeed a great move for us, both in marketing and on the field.
Basically each of those new signups, have around the same amount of international caps as the rest of the squad combined.. says enough ^^

As for Tialata, we all hope he isn't gonna be butchered like Rodney "Rodzilla" Blake has been, when he played in Bayonne last season.. he couldn't adapt to the "vice/cheating" of the french scrums (blame it on the french referees i guess), and spent his season eating grass..
Then again, their Curriculum Vitae are completely different, again a nice addition to our scrum (since we have no international props/hooker)

All in all, the AB (short for Aviron Bayonnais, Bayonne) fans are thrilled, and very very excited to be able to witness such great players in our stadium next year, bring it on ! :)
 
Good news for Bayonne fans ... Phillips won't be signing because of his wage demands.
 
Smurf said:
Well Rokocoko is basically THE best (and most famous) player to ever sign in our team.. i bet even on an average day he will bring a lot to the squad, in both experience, skills, and aura.

Not only that, Bayonne is "famous" in France for having many negociations going on with starplayers, and basically signing NONE. Now that the circus behind the scene is over, signups like Rokocoko, Heymans or Chilsholm, might start to attract other players (not signup only for the money).. so it's indeed a great move for us, both in marketing and on the field.
Basically each of those new signups, have around the same amount of international caps as the rest of the squad combined.. says enough ^^

As for Tialata, we all hope he isn't gonna be butchered like Rodney "Rodzilla" Blake has been, when he played in Bayonne last season.. he couldn't adapt to the "vice/cheating" of the french scrums (blame it on the french referees i guess), and spent his season eating grass..
Then again, their Curriculum Vitae are completely different, again a nice addition to our scrum (since we have no international props/hooker)

All in all, the AB (short for Aviron Bayonnais, Bayonne) fans are thrilled, and very very excited to be able to witness such great players in our stadium next year, bring it on ! :)
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some good signing idd, pity Lauaki is leaving ASM ( still my fav Top 14 team)
 
TRF_Cymro said:
Good news for Bayonne fans ... Phillips won't be signing because of his wage demands.
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Well apparently it is not over yet.

According to ppl I know, the Bayonne "board" is going to meet tomorrow (that is, in about 10-12 hours), the main topic of the meeting being Mike Phillips.
Since Byron Kelleher's pre-contract has been "broken", hence (most probably) a financial compensation for the club, and the fact that it seems Mike Phillips has lowered his demands.. the ball is on our side.

I'd personally love to see him play in the squad, but hey, who wouldn't ^^

Anyway, we'll probably know more in the next few hours/few days !
 
I don't despise Mike Phillips as much as some people around here do.
He doesn't have the straghtest or quickest pasks of all international halfbacks, but I think he is more than good enough for club level.

What seems odd is all this money being pumped into a side that doesn't play the Heineken Cup...
 

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