This is turning into a right shambles.
The rugby world was shaken this week when it was revealed that major rivals Stade Francais and Racing 92 are to merge into one club ahead of next season.
The clubs held a meeting with their players and staff on Monday where the shocking news was revealed.
The news has been greeted almost universally negatively with the players of Stade Francais announcing that they are going on an immediate strike ahead of this weekend’s clash against Castres.
The strike is led by vice-captain Pascal Pape and club captain Sergio Parisse seems to support this move if his latest tweet is anything to go by.
En tant que capitaine du @SFParisRugby , j’ai appris de la mort de mon club par…twitter! On va rien lâcher…je vous assure! 💪🏼🌺 #notreclub
— sergio parisse (@sergioparisse) March 15, 2017
Translation: “As captain of Stade Francais, I learned of the death of my club by … Twitter! We will not let go … I assure you #ourclub.”
It is not only the fans who are losing out in this deal but the players are incredibly loyal to the respective clubs, which is something Ronan O’Gara revealed on the latest episode of The Hard Yards.
“It was greeted with, I suppose, a mixed reaction because you have some fellas like Henry Chavancy who has played with Racing since he was six years of age. It’s his club, he was formed there, it means everything.
“He was with the French camp, he wasn’t there for the presentation. I don’t know what his reaction would be but I assume it would be a negative reaction because it’s his club, he doesn’t want anything happening to his club.”
People seem to forget that players are not robots, they are humans, with responsibilities, feelings and pressures like everyone else. Donncha O’Callaghan also revealed that the news has shaken up the whole transfer market and that this could have a disastrous effect on certain players’ livelihoods.
“I’ll give you a perfect example, we (Worcester) have four guys lined up with French clubs and they were all put on ice this week.
“It’s not good for them, they have dependents and families.”
You can listen to O’Gara’s and O’Callaghan’s discussion on the situation unfolding in France from 32:40 below.
