Elite 1 follow-up

[Hvy wg]

Just now, welshmagpie said:

WHo would be candidates to replace Palau mate? 

Baho are probably better at the moment but themselves are a Saint Estève dumping yard...

[The Daddy]

Lyon Villerbaune-Rhone XIII keep saying they have big ambitions, they really need to step up to the plate now and stop talking. 

[Hvy wg]

2 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

Lyon Villerbaune-Rhone XIII keep saying they have big ambitions, they really need to step up to the plate now and stop talking. 

Not even close to being an Elite 1 side.

 

[The Daddy]

14 minutes ago, Hvy wg said:

Not even close to being an Elite 1 side.

 

Why do they keep talking about being one then? Let's also not forget about Marseille and Toulon who also appear to be ambitious 

[Hvy wg]

3 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

Why do they keep talking about being one then? Let's also not forget about Marseille and Toulon who also appear to be ambitious 

Toulon juniors are walking the League with only union players. 

[Gerrumonside ref]

Are there any official/unofficial ‘twinnings’ of British and French rugby league clubs?

I might be tempted to follow Elite One a bit closer if I had a team to support.

Maybe one of our esteemed Elite One aficionados could do an unofficial ‘Cup draw’ pairing English teams with French teams to give us all a team to get behind over the winter?

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Hvy wg said:

Catalans 66 - 10 Palau.

The long walk continues for Palau, who couldn't compete and conceded the first after jsut two minutes.

Youngster Romain Franco on the wing scored his brace in just the first 10 minutes, both gifted by Ambert.

Vergniol, the second row, then broke the line and stepped past Sigismeau to score a runaway try. 3 minutes later, Goudemand took his chance and scored. The rest of the game was "more of the same".

Good points : Saloty Mendy as a prop, from the U19, crushed the opposition, lots of post contact meters, a real eye catcher. Arnaud Barthes, a former Union player, very impressive from an athletic point of view, he was the biggest player on the field yet very explosive and had a couple offloads.

"Meh" points : Goudemand, was solid but not spectacular, I expected more of him especially as he's chasing a SL contract. Castaillet, he's very (very) fit but did not have an impact, not many post contact metres.

Bad points : Palau. I don't see how they could stay in the Elite 1, their recruitment as been abysmal, going after every past Saint Estève players they could find, even scouting the 3rd or 4th division to get them.  Sigismeau has played rugby all his life and still can't nail the basics, kept running sideways with the ball facing the opposition. The back three spilled at least half the bombs. Their pack isn't a pack, with most of their players under 1m80 and maybe one of them close to 100kgs, they basically have a forward pack with 6 hookers, it's no wonder they got demolished.

Worst point : Palau's starting prop Margalet who couldn't refrain from whining each time he got tackled (Palau coach is Elima after all...) and started an unnecessary fight.

Compositions :

Saint Estève - XIII Catalan : F. Flovie - Franco, Nègre, Ambert, J. Flovie - Pala, Guasch - Khedimi, Meresta, Barthès - Vergniol, M. Da Costa - Goudemand. Subs : Meunier, Castaillet, Saloty, Grangeon.

Palau : Sigismeau - Thérésin, Doutres, Calegari, Masuaute - Merbah, Bidaut - Margalet, Cordoba, Garcia - Torrès, Ruiz - Madani. Subs : De Oliveira, Boudebza, Scimone, Benamihed.

Good to read about mendy. He looked promising in the u19 highlights 2 years ago and then seemed to disappear. Did he get injured? 

[JonM]

1 hour ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Are there any official/unofficial ‘twinnings’ of British and French rugby league clubs?

I might be tempted to follow Elite One a bit closer if I had a team to support.

Maybe one of our esteemed Elite One aficionados could do an unofficial ‘Cup draw’ pairing English teams with French teams to give us all a team to get behind over the winter?

Leeds & Albi have a youth development partnership. There's a couple of Castleford lads at Villeneuve this season. I know a few Widnes fans follow Carcassonne after Widnes played them to celebrate ASC 70th anniversary a few years back.

[Evil Homer]

7 hours ago, Hvy wg said:

Saint Estève - XIII Catalan : F. Flovie - Franco, Nègre, Ambert, J. Flovie - Pala, Guasch - Khedimi, Meresta, Barthès - Vergniol, M. Da Costa - Goudemand. Subs : Meunier, Castaillet, Saloty, Grangeon.

Khedimi played at prop? Not sure that's the best move for him considering there are like 11 props in the Dragons FT squad.

[Evil Homer]

Some results:

Lezignan 22-25 Avignon

Carcassonne 28-6 St Gaudens

Limoux 37-12 Villeneuve

Albi 28-4 TO Broncos

 

[damp squib]

Good to see Avignon and Albi looking strong so far this year.

[BroncoFan]

9 hours ago, Hvy wg said:

Catalans 66 - 10 Palau.

The long walk continues for Palau, who couldn't compete and conceded the first after jsut two minutes.

Youngster Romain Franco on the wing scored his brace in just the first 10 minutes, both gifted by Ambert.

Vergniol, the second row, then broke the line and stepped past Sigismeau to score a runaway try. 3 minutes later, Goudemand took his chance and scored. The rest of the game was "more of the same".

Good points : Saloty Mendy as a prop, from the U19, crushed the opposition, lots of post contact meters, a real eye catcher. Arnaud Barthes, a former Union player, very impressive from an athletic point of view, he was the biggest player on the field yet very explosive and had a couple offloads.

"Meh" points : Goudemand, was solid but not spectacular, I expected more of him especially as he's chasing a SL contract. Castaillet, he's very (very) fit but did not have an impact, not many post contact metres.

Bad points : Palau. I don't see how they could stay in the Elite 1, their recruitment as been abysmal, going after every past Saint Estève players they could find, even scouting the 3rd or 4th division to get them.  Sigismeau has played rugby all his life and still can't nail the basics, kept running sideways with the ball facing the opposition. The back three spilled at least half the bombs. Their pack isn't a pack, with most of their players under 1m80 and maybe one of them close to 100kgs, they basically have a forward pack with 6 hookers, it's no wonder they got demolished.

Worst point : Palau's starting prop Margalet who couldn't refrain from whining each time he got tackled (Palau coach is Elima after all...) and started an unnecessary fight.

Compositions :

Saint Estève - XIII Catalan : F. Flovie - Franco, Nègre, Ambert, J. Flovie - Pala, Guasch - Khedimi, Meresta, Barthès - Vergniol, M. Da Costa - Goudemand. Subs : Meunier, Castaillet, Saloty, Grangeon.

Palau : Sigismeau - Thérésin, Doutres, Calegari, Masuaute - Merbah, Bidaut - Margalet, Cordoba, Garcia - Torrès, Ruiz - Madani. Subs : De Oliveira, Boudebza, Scimone, Benamihed.

Is that Karim Madani ?

A few years ago he looked the best French prospect I had ever seen.

[Evil Homer]

9 minutes ago, Emosi Koloto said:

Is that Karim Madani ?

A few years ago he looked the best French prospect I had ever seen.

Yep. Alex Doutres, Maxime Scimone and Olivier Ruiz were also good prospects at one point. As I said earlier in the thread, I was surprised to see Palau struggling with the names on their roster, obviously these kids didn't kick on as senior players.

[barnyia]

9 hours ago, Hvy wg said:

Toulon juniors are walking the League with only union players. 

Won 2 games in elite juniors with only union players 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, barnyia said:

Won 2 games in elite juniors with only union players 

What age group is the elite juniors? And are they also contracted to union clubs?

[JonM]

14 hours ago, walter sobchak said:

What age group is the elite juniors? And are they also contracted to union clubs?

They are u-19s.  There are 27 teams taking part at this level compared with 19 last year, which is really good news (there are only around 80 adult RL teams in France, for comparison.)

 

[barnyia]

If Toulon keep progressing as they are they will soon be the candidates for elite 1, then maybe the union owners will take notice and push for super league, it will mean the stadium being used all year round,

i believe there's an healthy relation between the union club and league club, 

its great to see league being played there! 

[audois]

1 hour ago, barnyia said:

If Toulon keep progressing as they are they will soon be the candidates for elite 1, then maybe the union owners will take notice and push for super league, it will mean the stadium being used all year round,

i believe there's an healthy relation between the union club and league club, 

its great to see league being played there! 

Enthusiastic bunch from what I saw. Bit green to say the least yesterday at Domec. On occasions no markers at the play the ball!  ASC looked a youngish out-fit and could' t handle the physicality of the visitors. Their key lad though was their half back who could play a bit and led them round whilst on the flanks had players with pace and strength. Their first away win was celebrated noisily. Exciting to see any newcomers like that. Gael Tallec the former Wigan player has been involved in their formation.

Galthie the former French international and now RC Toulon coach is a big NRL fan and has visited Brutus too to observe coaching sessions. I think last year their open-age side won the Federal Cup. It's early days for them as a club but a promising start for sure.

[Getmefood]

On 10 December 2017 at 10:06 PM, welshmagpie said:

WHo would be candidates to replace Palau mate? 

Villefranche..

[audois]

St Gaudens turned up yesterday at Carcassonne and gave it a dig. ASC only really got themselves infront a minute from the break. RCSG struggled territorially - 1st half 10 mins in before reaching the 20m red zone and 15 mins after the break ditto. Penalty count hurt them maybe 3:1 and one of those received the fella couldn't find touch. The effort was there and liked the work the two wings came up with. With no U19s like Palau will be difficult year again for Gilles Dumas out-fit. Only second term back-up and were certainly not embarrassed yesterday.

 

[welshmagpie]

My two adopted French clubs are Salon and Carpentras (both in the same league this year) 

I aim to get over soon and watch either of them 

[JonM]

1 hour ago, welshmagpie said:

My two adopted French clubs are Salon and Carpentras (both in the same league this year) 

I aim to get over soon and watch either of them 

They are both beautiful places - a different world to RL towns in England. Check out Nostradamus's house in Salon, or the wintertime Friday morning truffle market in Carpentras.

[barnyia]

3 hours ago, audois said:

Enthusiastic bunch from what I saw. Bit green to say the least yesterday at Domec. On occasions no markers at the play the ball!  ASC looked a youngish out-fit and could' t handle the physicality of the visitors. Their key lad though was their half back who could play a bit and led them round whilst on the flanks had players with pace and strength. Their first away win was celebrated noisily. Exciting to see any newcomers like that. Gael Tallec the former Wigan player has been involved in their formation.

Galthie the former French international and now RC Toulon coach is a big NRL fan and has visited Brutus too to observe coaching sessions. I think last year their open-age side won the Federal Cup. It's early days for them as a club but a promising start for sure.

We play them on Sunday Gordon at Toulon so I'll definitely get a closer look! 

[gogledd]

Interesting read this thread.

I like the idea of UK teams twinning with a French team to get behind. There is a bunch of us at North Wales Crusaders who regularly go to support Catalans Dragons when they are in the UK as they don't have a huge amount on travelling support and its led to some great friendships with French fans.

I visited Albi for a France v Wales game a couple of years back and loved the place and the people so Albi would be my Elite 1 team (and not just because they are in good form at the moment!)

 

In the thread someone mentioned a Magic Weekend in Carcassonne (in April?) does anyone have any more details about this - it would be something I'd consider travelling over for if all Elite teams were playing over a weekend.

[JonM]

22 minutes ago, gogledd said:

In the thread someone mentioned a Magic Weekend in Carcassonne (in April?) does anyone have any more details about this - it would be something I'd consider travelling over for if all Elite teams were playing over a weekend.

It will be weekend of 28/29 April and will feature all 10 teams (i.e. 5 games.) It was a bit of a non-event last year, with one-sided games with nothing at stake and fairly sparse attendance. Certainly would let you see all of the elite teams in one weekend though.