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'I'll never forget': Laumape posts farewell Stade Francais message
Former All Blacks midfielder Ngani Laumape has posted his Parisian farewell message on social media after it was confirmed by Stade Francais that he had left the Top 14 club ahead of the 2022/23 season. It was May last year when it was announced that the 29-year-old had called time on his 15-cap New Zealand career after opting to take up a three-year in deal in France.
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However, the move hasn’t worked out as well as the centre imagined and he has now been linked with a switch to the Top League in Japan unless he is tempted back into the New Zealand Super Rugby fold by the NZR.
It was last week when Stade Francais owner Hans-Peter Wild admitted they were embracing the possibility of releasing Laumape from a deal that was agreed in 2021 after the Parisian club had lost France international Gael Fickou to city rivals Racing 92.
“Ngani Laumape is training with us at the moment,” said the Stade Francais owner at the time. “But his family is having a little trouble adjusting to this huge city that is Paris and we have therefore recently studied the possibility of freeing the player. Whatever happens in the next few days, we will look at what the best option is for him, for his family and for the club.”
It has since been confirmed that Laumape has indeed exited Stade Francais, the club posting an official confirmation on its website that was followed by the ex-All Blacks player sharing his own thoughts about his departure on social media.
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“Stade Francais Paris and its New Zealand international centre Ngani Laumape have agreed to put an end to their collaboration following the family adjustment difficulties that Ngani told us about,” explained the club’s official communique.
“Arrived last summer from the Hurricanes franchise, Ngani played 22 games in the pink and blue jersey. The capital club thanks Ngani for this season and wishes him good luck for the rest of his career.”
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Ngani later added his farewell message via his own social media: “Thank you Stade Francais for the opportunity. Got to meet some amazing people in my time in Paris which I’ll never forget. Merci, Stade Francais. Wish you guys all the best for the upcoming season.”
Ngani’s previous message on social media was last weekend when he pinned an old RugbyPass Instagram card to the top of his page. That message from last year, which pictured him celebrating a try for the Hurricanes, came with a quote in which he outlined his disappointment with the contract offered to him in 2021 by the NZR.
“I offer something in the midfield that no other midfielder can offer in New Zealand,” he said in the message, something he has highlighted again now that he is in the market for a new club after exiting Stade Francais.
Comments on RugbyPass
Those are pretty good draws for the two top Aussie teams. I certainly wouldn't want my Chiefs to have a quarter final in Brisbane. None of the top teams will want the Crusaders.
1 Go to commentsHonestly, I am a bit lost here …. Ireland - RSA was (at least in my opinion) perhaps (from a purely technical / rugby-skills-show point of view) the pinnacle of the RWC2023 - almost flawless playing (putting aside the kicking of RSA which was the difference between the two teams), rugby at it’s very best …. if I were a Bok and after the game some Irish lads came around saying “see you in 5 weeks same place”, I definitely wouldn’t have thought of it as being in any way “arrogant”, rather a sort of jolly “if we both continue to play like this, no one could stop us” - besides, few of us fans would have, at that time, been surprised to see the same teams playing on 23 september and 28 october 2023 ….. well, we all know Ireland chose to hit a slump to keep the QF curse alive …..
133 Go to commentsThere’s value gleaned from having an All Black star running and training with your team. How many games he starts (or even where he plays in the backline) will be decided on a week by week basis based on the needs for that week. But the overall learning and growth for all concerned, I’d think, is massively beneficial. Especially for Irish players.
8 Go to commentsSon, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
8 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
133 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
133 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
133 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
8 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
8 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to comments