The new generation

[erwanseb]

Four very talented young players have illuminated the second round of top 14, three of them have scored

1) Lamerat Remi, 1m86 105kg 19y outside center, one try (Toulouse)
2) Couet-Lannes Paul 1m87 82 kg 18y fullback, two tries on his first top 14 game, Biarritz
3) Lesgourgues Yann 1m75 70kg 18y scrumhalf, Biarritz, the fastest pass I,ve seen recently
4) Fofana Westley 1m78 88kg 21y winger , Clermont , one try , not completely new

Plus Benjamin Fall (Bayonne), Bastareaud (SF), Benoît Paillaugue (Montpellier), Guyot (BO), Molcard (BO),
Lapendry (Clermont), Camara (SF), Chavancy , De Marco (Montpellier)

A lot of new faces proving that it is not incompatible to use both experienced foreign stars as well as young french players.

Brusque and Yachvili can be worried.

 

[DonBilly]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Codorniou @ Aug 27 2009, 06:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Four very talented young players have illuminated the second round of top 14, three of them have scored

1) Lamerat Remi, 1m86 105kg 19y outside center, one try (Toulouse)
2) Couet-Lannes Paul 1m87 82 kg 18y fullback, two tries on his first top 14 game, Biarritz
3) Lesgourgues Yann 1m75 70kg 18y scrumhalf, Biarritz, the fastest pass I,ve seen recently
4) Fofana Westley 1m78 88kg 21y winger , Clermont , one try , not completely new

Plus Benjamin Fall (Bayonne), Bastareaud (SF), Benoît Paillaugue (Montpellier), Guyot (BO), Molcard (BO),
Lapendry (Clermont), Camara (SF), Chavancy , De Marco (Montpellier)

A lot of new faces proving that it is not incompatible to use both experienced foreign stars as well as young french players.

Brusque and Yachvili can be worried.[/b]

You can add Yann David and Morgan Parra too.

 

[Bullitt]

Is para actually any good? The one time I've seen him play, all I saw was him starting fights, stamping and getting flattened.

 

[gingergenius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Aug 27 2009, 06:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Is para actually any good? The one time I've seen him play, all I saw was him starting fights, stamping and getting flattened.[/b]

was that by future england lock enforcer and eventual conqueror of bakkies botha, COURTNEY LAWES?

 

[Charles]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Aug 27 2009, 06:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Is para actually any good? The one time I've seen him play, all I saw was him starting fights, stamping and getting flattened.[/b]

Yeah, whatever . You'll understand when he beats England singlehandedly, Yachvili style.

Seriously, he's very good.

And Fofana is a center I think.

 

[erwanseb]

Players named above can be seen there
Promising New blood

 

[Stillknox]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Aug 27 2009, 07:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Is para actually any good? The one time I've seen him play, all I saw was him starting fights, stamping and getting flattened.[/b]

Have youn seen him against Wales in the last 6N ? He was excellent. But I must admit, on the field he can be a little annoying *******. But like most of the good scrum half. (Pichot, I miss you)

 

[groga]

Any others?

How about Wenceslas Lauret?

Would love an insight into the young up and coming players for france as I live in perth!.

 

[psychic duck]

Four very talented young players have illuminated the second round of top 14, three of them have scored

1) Lamerat Remi, 1m86 105kg 19y outside center, one try (Toulouse)
2) Couet-Lannes Paul 1m87 82 kg 18y fullback, two tries on his first top 14 game, Biarritz
3) Lesgourgues Yann 1m75 70kg 18y scrumhalf, Biarritz, the fastest pass I,ve seen recently
4) Fofana Westley 1m78 88kg 21y winger , Clermont , one try , not completely new

Plus Benjamin Fall (Bayonne), Bastareaud (SF), Benoît Paillaugue (Montpellier), Guyot (BO), Molcard (BO),
Lapendry (Clermont), Camara (SF), Chavancy , De Marco (Montpellier)

A lot of new faces proving that it is not incompatible to use both experienced foreign stars as well as young french players.

Brusque and Yachvili can be worried.

Rémi Lamerat struggled to get any game time at Toulouse and has now moved to Castres but has not played yet due to injury

Paul Couet-Lannes looked very impressive in 2009/10 but suffered a very serious injury against Glasgow in January 2010 and was out injured until the start of this season, where he has been playing wing in the absence of Ngwenya at the World Cup, could struggle to play much this season as Dane Haylett-Petty did well for Biarritz last season and Balshaw also plays full back there

Yann Lesgourges has been covering for Yachvili at the start of this season and Biarritz simply do not look the same side without Yachvili, Lesgourges did not impress and the Basques have put Peyrelongue at 9 more recently to cover for Yachvili

Wesley Fofana has looked very impressive when I've seen him play, however due to the strength in the Clermont squad he has to rely on injuries to get game time, he has spent much of his time on the wing , but is actually a much better centre, but Canale, King and Gavin Williams are blocking his way there and with wingers Malzieu, Sivivatu, Murimurivalu, Russell, Nakaitaci in the squad he has too fight really hard to get game time

Benjamin Fall has proved very injury prone since moving to Racing-Métro, he has not really established himself and is being used as a bench player to cover all back three positions, but Bobo, Saubade and Bergamasco are all preferred to him, but still a young player with a lot of potential

Bastareaud problems have been well documented, I was very impressed with him playing for the Barbarians in the summer but competition for the national team in the centres is strong and he can't afford to be lazy and just given a spot in the side, he has to up his game

Paillaugue hasn't seen much game time behind Julien Tomas, who is a player at the fulcrum of the Montpellier side, unfortunately for Paillaugue whilst Tomas has been injured this season, so has Paillaugue

Guyot and Molcard along with Lauret are all having to fight hard for game time as Biarritz have a strong settled back row of Lund, Harinordoquy and Lakafia

Lapandry has cemented the Clermont 7 shirt now, and has been unlucky not to have been called up to the international set up more often by now, I think after the World Cup Lapandry will rise to prominence and the older Bonnaire will gradually fade out of the international picture, Lapandry is almost like for like with Olivier Magne, tall, quick and does good carries

Djibril Camara has been a bit too inconsistent to seriously challenge for a starting place at Stade Français and although he is fantastic sometimes and has lots of raw potential, he is also quite error prone, however in the Top 14 mavericks like this are not really allowed to shine in the league, compared to the Magners League where the less amount of foreigners and less importance of the league means he would play week in week out and perhaps improve and lessen the errors a bit like Morgan Stoddart has done these past two years

Henry Chavancy looks very good and keeps some good players out of the Racing-Métro side, definitely one player for the future but as mentioned above competition in the centres in France is tough. could replace Marty in the France squad in the next three years

Mickaël de Marco has really struggled for game time at Montpellier and only really starts in the Amlin Challenge Cup, the rise of Fakate along with the South African Hancke and new signing Privat has put him down the pecking order, Gorgodze also plays lock at Montpellier ahead of him when there are injuries

Any others?

How about Wenceslas Lauret?

Would love an insight into the young up and coming players for france as I live in perth!.

Lauret did very well for Biarritz in 2009/10 and got called up to the squad for the summer internationals in 2010, but since then Lakafia has emerged and he is not starting much for Biarritz, and has to fight to be on the bench alongside Guyot and Florian Faure, a recent long term injury to Magnus Lund could help get him more opportunities though

 

[groga]

Hmmm interesting who do you rate psychic duck?

 

[M Two One]

Lauret is viewed by the Biarritz coaching staff as one of the premier troisième ligne. He's been playing fairly well this seasonâ€"earning 400 + minutes, far more than any other player at the clubâ€"and his performances are being overlooked by the fact that much of the rest of the team has not been playing up to par, which is a shame. There has been a lot of talk at home that he'll be playing at #6 once the world cup is over, which I think could work.

Take note of young Talalelei Gray as he could earn that spot over Lauret. Ever since he came on as a sub a few weeks ago, he's impressed so much that he's been earning more playing time than Faure and Guyot. Arnaud Héguy is another standout at Biarritz as he's quickly replaced the aging Benoît August as their starting hooker.

Here's how I have the starting XV once the world cup has come to a close. I'm wondering what your opinion is of Baby as I think as good as he is, and as poorly as Gimenez has been so far this season, wouldn't it be a better option to have the latter start to have an impact player on the bench?

15 Iain Balshaw
14 Takudzwa Ngwenya
13 Benoît Baby
12 Damien Traille
11 Ilikena Bolakoro
10 Julien Peyrelongue
9 Dimitri Yachvili
8 Raphaël Lakafia
7 Imanol Harinordoquy
6 Wenceslas Lauret
5 Erik Lund
4 Manuel Carizza
3 Sylvain Marconnet
2 Arnaud Héguy
1 Fabien Barcella

Good call on Chavancy, the player is a future French star for sure.

 

[groga]

Your backline is older then the one currently playing at the rwc....don't think france will go that way well at least I hope not.

Para will take over from Yachvili and trin-duc will be 10. But basically see the backline staying the same with most players who started against england being the age of 23 - 25. (Will be the end of Rougerie and Clerc after this world cup though)

Your forwards seem like they are getting on and is where i think are biggest problem will come from. In the past few years are forwards have been one of the best in world but i'm not sure of the quality coming through.

The french need to do a mini rebuild and starting getting a core group of young players together to really challenge in four years kinda like what Australia has done.

 

[M Two One]

Your backline is older then the one currently playing at the rwc....don't think france will go that way well at least I hope not.

Para will take over from Yachvili and trin-duc will be 10. But basically see the backline staying the same with most players who started against england being the age of 23 - 25. (Will be the end of Rougerie and Clerc after this world cup though)

Your forwards seem like they are getting on and is where i think are biggest problem will come from. In the past few years are forwards have been one of the best in world but i'm not sure of the quality coming through.

The french need to do a mini rebuild and starting getting a core group of young players together to really challenge in four years kinda like what Australia has done.

Who are you replying to?

 

[psychic duck]

Lauret is viewed by the Biarritz coaching staff as one of the premier troisième ligne. He's been playing fairly well this seasonâ€"earning 400 + minutes, far more than any other player at the clubâ€"and his performances are being overlooked by the fact that much of the rest of the team has not been playing up to par, which is a shame. There has been a lot of talk at home that he'll be playing at #6 once the world cup is over, which I think could work.

Take note of young Talalelei Gray as he could earn that spot over Lauret. Ever since he came on as a sub a few weeks ago, he's impressed so much that he's been earning more playing time than Faure and Guyot. Arnaud Héguy is another standout at Biarritz as he's quickly replaced the aging Benoît August as their starting hooker.

Here's how I have the starting XV once the world cup has come to a close. I'm wondering what your opinion is of Baby as I think as good as he is, and as poorly as Gimenez has been so far this season, wouldn't it be a better option to have the latter start to have an impact player on the bench?

15 Iain Balshaw
14 Takudzwa Ngwenya
13 Benoît Baby
12 Damien Traille
11 Ilikena Bolakoro
10 Julien Peyrelongue
9 Dimitri Yachvili
8 Raphaël Lakafia
7 Imanol Harinordoquy
6 Wenceslas Lauret
5 Erik Lund
4 Manuel Carizza
3 Sylvain Marconnet
2 Arnaud Héguy
1 Fabien Barcella

Good call on Chavancy, the player is a future French star for sure.

From what I've seen of Biarritz, I agree with your team, Magnus Lund has done quite well but is now injured so Lauret should fill in, Lauret is a very similar player to Dusautoir in my opinion, just less consistent

The only change I would make is have Balshaw on the wing instead of Bolakoro as I don't really rate Balshaw as a FB or Bolakoro, Haylett-Petty or perhaps Couet-Lannes can play 15.

Good to hear that Héguy is doing well after having made the Basque team crossover (he is Bayonne through and through and cried when they were relegated in 2010), I always thought August was underrated and would have been a good international hooker if France weren't so strong at this area

As far as France post RWC goes - I think there is plenty of talent to choose from

the core of the team is already there (Médard, Trinh-Duc, Parra, Domingo, Dusautoir ) and I think lessons should be learnt and vast changes shouldn't be made too quickly, but they should be phased in

In 2012, I would like to see Lapandry to come into the side properly, Malzieu to be given a full season of international matches, and Doussain to come in

but as mentioned above not too much, I believe that it is more important to win each match than have a side that will all still be playing in 2015, and if for example the players in their early thirties now are replaced by younger players in 2013, it is much better for the younger player to come in around a few experienced players in a successful side than having them all come in at once in a side which hypothetically will be successful in four years time

so don't ditch Servat, Harinordoquy, Mas etc immediately and all at once, wait match by match

 

[M Two One]

I've been watching Balshaw on the wing this season and I haven't been that impressed, perhaps he's just over the hill? I actually forgot about Haylett-Petty, he should be a solid player for the club down the road.

Any others?

How about Wenceslas Lauret?

Would love an insight into the young up and coming players for france as I live in perth!.

Young up and coming French players?

Top 14 season preview (pt 1)
Top 14 season preview (pt 2)

 

[psychic duck]

I think the Clermont academy is beginning to rival Toulouse's, a lot of good players coming through there

 

[M Two One]

I think the Clermont academy is beginning to rival Toulouse's, a lot of good players coming through there

I agree with that, think about how good players like Ludovic Radosavljevic, Wesley Fofana and Alexandre Lapandry are going to get. They're set for the future, that's for sure.

Have you been keeping track of the lower divisions at all? Tarbes (the city) is starting to gain a reputation for producing good players. In the past, many of their better players (Beauxis, Lauret, etc) all went to bigger clubs, but now more of them are choosing to stay local due to the increased financial support for TPR.

The club has a solid pack of likely future French stars such as wingers Adrien Domec and Romain Dumestre, both of which look good early on this season. They should compliment a player like Vereniki Goneva when he returns from the RWC. I still can't believe they managed to poach him so easily from relegated Colomiers. You should be familiar with Mamuka Magrakvelidze, he has a lot of help up front from Maumus, Zanon and Tilhac.

 

[groga]

Who are you replying to?

Sorry I miss read your post !

*Egg on face

P.S Super glad to read the new rules coming in which would make all clubs have at least %60 french players by 2015!

I'm a huge fan of Para think he is one of the best 22 year olds I have seen.

 

[groga]

Hey was just wondering if anyone could give me a little insight into Jean-Marc Doussain and who is the better player him or Parra?
[h=1][/h]

 

[M Two One]

Bébé Byron is still only 20-years-old, but as of right now, I would definitely say that Morgan Parra is the better player. Parra established himself as a prominent scrum-half during his time at Bourgoin-Jallieu at an even younger age and now with Clermont he has grown into a superb versatile player. I do believe that Doussain will become one of the best at his position in four or five years though. You may also want to keep track of fly half Jean-Pascal Barraque.