Boudjellal names stars he would recruit if still involved in rugby
Former Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal has named the southern hemisphere stars of today that he would recruit if he was still involved in rugby. It was 2006 when he set out on his extraordinary shake-up of the game in France, recruiting ex-All Blacks skipper Tana Umaga to play in the Pro D2.
Promotion eventually followed for Toulon and it fuelled in Boudjellal the appetite to further bolster his team with a galaxy of galacticos from overseas, the likes of Sonny Bill Williams, Matt Giteau and Bakkies Botha from the south – to name but three – joining over the years along with England’s Jonny Wilkinson and Mathieu Bastareaud of France.
This attention-grabbing outlay resulted in the club winning three consecutive Heineken Champions Cups (2013, 2014 and 2015) and the 2014 Top 14 title under Bernard Laporte, who has since become World Rugby vice-chairman.
Boudjellal, the businessman who made his fortune in comic book publishing, remained at the helm in Toulon until the 2019/20 season when he stepped away as president and the club was taken over by pharmaceuticals magnate Bernard Lemaitre. He has since moved into the world of football, taking over nearby Hyeres, but keeps abreast of the rugby goings-on and is regularly quoted in the media.
In his latest interview, published in Friday’s edition of French rugby paper Midi Olympique, Boudjellal was asked if he was still president of Toulon, would he still recruit stars from the southern hemisphere?
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His answer? “Yes, but only players that we have never seen in the Top 14. Players like Beauden Barrett, for example, or even Michael Hooper, who looks like a star. I may also seek out Pieter-Steph du Toit or Siya Kolisi, who has a story to tell. The other option is to bet on XIII players like Sonny Bill Williams or Semi Radradra, who nobody knew in France before I brought them over.
“Except that risk of crashing exists. I also signed Willie Mason… But tell yourself one thing: in my time, only three or four clubs dominated the Top 14. French players only saw through these clubs. If you weren’t the president of Stade Francais, Toulouse or Biarritz, you couldn’t recruit a French international. It is also for this reason that, in order to be competitive, we turned to import products. And it didn’t work too badly…”
The market has changed hugely, though, and the stars at clubs in France are more often local French players than overseas recruits. “(Antoine) Dupont, (Romain) Ntamack or even (Cameron) Woki and (Gregory) Alldritt are the world stars today. But the stars of the south, who came to France in the past, brought visibility to the Top 14 and a strong increase in TV rights.
“At the time, there was a phenomenon of curiosity. Remember: when I recruited Umaga, I launched the Pro D2 on television. The increase in TV rights, because TV agreed to pay more to see stars, enabled clubs to invest in training.”
But why is the market so different now? “There are multiple explanations,” continued Boudjellal. “First, a few years ago, the stars were in the south. Nations such as New Zealand, Australia or South Africa dominated world rugby.
“Today, this is less the case. Players from these countries are probably less attractive sportingly. In my time, when a club recruited a player from the southern hemisphere, it was to see him cross the pitch like in Super Rugby. This policy allowed the Top 14 to develop. Then, the other explanation is the establishment of the Jiff system and its hardening in recent years. Finally, the last reason is called Japan.
“The Top League has colossal financial power. I remember being interested in Dan Carter. The latter had a proposal from a Japanese club for an amount of €1.8million net of tax per season. Well, he finally signed for Racing for the love of the jersey,” quipped Boudjellal. “The Japanese weren’t able to show as much love as Jacky Lorenzetti’s club.
“Today, the Japanese market is able to afford any player, in particular thanks to very advantageous taxation. And then, let’s face it, it’s not the most difficult championship.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Very unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to commentsAll good, Gregor, except that you neglected to mention Sam Darry amongst that talented pool of locks. In fact, given Hannah’s inexperience and the fact that Holland won’t be eligible until next year, Lord and Darry might be the frontrunners this year, to join Barrett, Tuipoluto, Va’ii and possibly Whitelock. In fact there might be room for all of them if Barrett played 6 (like Ollie Chessum).
10 Go to comments