Toulouse Olympique coach Sylvain Houles (pictured) is taking inspiration from the French national teams of the 1950s as he looks to mount a genuine promotion push this year.
Houles is a keen student of Rugby à Treize, and in particular the French teams that reached a World Cup final and twice won Test series in Australia over half a century ago.
Houles said: “Those players were instinct players, playing what they were seeing in front of them.
“That’s what everybody called French flair, and that has a huge influence on me; it’s the way I want our guys to play.
“We select players that have that instinct in their game.
“We have to find the right balance, because looking after the ball is important in our game, and that’s why we also want to have a good defence. If we make mistakes we have to defend them.
“But we want to have a style of rugby that’s dangerous from everywhere.
“I do like the history.
“French Rugby League was very strong at one point and I believe we can go back there, and having Toulouse in Super League would help that, having this healthy rivalry with Catalans.
It could be big, it could be huge, with everybody waiting for those two games and wanting to have tickets for them.
“We have to create something special to put Rugby League back on the map in France.”
