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'Final stages are tears and blood, business made on human misery'
Biarritz president Jean-Baptiste Aldige has branded the current promotion format to the Top 14 from Pro D2 as “tears and blood, a business made on human misery”. In the past the team that finished on top of the table in the regular season would gain automatic promotion, allowing them additional time to prepare for the resulting season in the top flight.
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However, that stipulation was scrapped in 2017 in preference of end-of-season playoffs contested by the top six teams in the division. Only after those additional games is the playoff winner promoted while the beaten finalists get a second chance at promotion as they playoff against the 13th place team in the Top 14.
Whereas previously a team out in front in the regular season could anticipate in advance they were going to top the league and go up, allowing them to begin their recruitment at an early stage, such planning is now put on hold given the lack of certainty.
It was last June when Perpignan were eventually confirmed as champions and they are now facing a playoff to safeguard their Top 14 status for next season as they are set to finish 13th unless they overhaul Brive in the final two rounds of matches.
It was via this additional playoff that Biarritz secured their Top 14 return eleven months ago, winning a clash with Bayonne who placed 13th in the Top 14, and it left them in a race to secure some signing in time for the September 4 start of this season’s top-flight campaign.
It didn’t go well for Biarritz as they were relegated last Saturday and now return to the Pro D2 after just a single season back in the Top 14. They have departed with a stinging observation about the current format in the league, a sharp opinion delivered by club president Aldige in the Midi Olympique rugby newspaper. “The final stages of Pro D2 are tears and blood. It is business made on human misery,” he said.
“As it stands, we send the Pro D2 clubs to the butchery. If Biarritz had stayed up this year, it would have been relegated the following season. It is inevitable. More than the final stages, rugby needs a strong territorial network, stronger than it is today, where eight clubs are fighting for the title.
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“We must allow new clubs to reach the wage bill ceiling hit for a long time by the big eight and thus embody new forces. Today, with the current system, the only hope of seeing a new club emerge is for a billionaire to show up and write cheques…”
Is he confident that a change in the format will happen? “I don’t know… The change of formula of the Pro D2 was part of the campaign program of Rene Bouscatel (the current president of the LNR). Why is it taking so long? Why don’t we go tomorrow? However, a single meeting of the steering committee would be enough to pass the law…
“It would take an hour, what… And if you want to see, tomorrow, clubs like Biarritz, Aix-en-Provence, Oyonnax or Bayonne, give them the right to cross the gap one day and settle permanently in the Top 14, as La Rochelle did after many attempts. You have to speed up the manoeuvre.
“There is no one left on the market in June… The remaining Jiffs, no one took them, either because they no longer have the level, or because they are injured… We don’t recruit players from a catalogue and in the space of three days!
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“To study and analyse a player’s profile, our recruitment unit sometimes spends three months there. Saying like everyone else that Maro Itoje and Dan Carter are good is one thing. Finding someone that almost no one knows is something else. With Vincent Martin, Elliott Dixon and James Cronin, we didn’t do too badly, in the end.”
Should the Pro D2 formula be changed in order to allow graduates to arm themselves and recruit, several months before reaching the Top 14? “Sure. This is something I have been campaigning for four years for. I remember a time when the first went straight up; it had allowed Lyon or Racing to recruit in office and to approach the Top 14 in good conditions. Such a system would eliminate the final stages as we know them today.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Super rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
8 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
8 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
16 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
16 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
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