The opening salvos in French rugby's new battle over central contracts have begun

Once again, French rugby authorities are not on the same page over the national side, writes James Harrington.

Fédération Française de Rugby president Bernadr Laporte’s grand central contract plans have, unsurprisingly, met a Ligue National de Rugby-shaped stumbling block.

After the Six Nations defeat to Ireland two weeks ago, Monsieur le President Laporte unveiled a scheme in which – within three years – 40 French players would be effectively signed to dual federal and club contracts in a bid to bolster the national team’s flagging fortunes.

Those dual-contract players would be available to the national coach for a total six months of the year, compared to the four-and-a-half of the current agreement, with clubs reimbursed the cost of the players’ wages for the time they are on national duty.

His statement was an opening salvo in what looks set to be a long, mostly cold, war. In it, he said that France players called up for the Ireland game have already signed a document agreeing in principle to the idea central contracts.

But, this week, the LNR, which operates France’s two professional leagues, the Top 14 and ProD2, rejected his plan following a meeting involving 12 of the 14 presidents of clubs in the French top flight. Toulon’s Mourad Boudjellal, who has already given Laporte’s plan his support, and Bayonne’s Francis Salagoïty did not attend.

“This project confuses the purpose shared by all the stakeholders – the performance of the French team – and the means to be used to achieve it,” the LNR fired back in a statement that reaffirmed the clubs’ opposition to federal contracts.

“This project, which is based on an inapplicable legal status, is in no way necessary in order to optimise the conditions for the preparation of the French team.”

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The 12 angry presidents questioned Laporte’s insistence that the national coach needed more time with the players, reminding the new boss on the FFR block – he was elected in December – of an agreement between the FFR and LNR dating back to the summer of 2016.

The two sides are not at Defcon One yet. The presidents did leave the door open for further discussions, saying that they hoped to be able to find a common solution to the issue of the French national teams ongoing under-performance.

However, they are both entrenched and digging in further. While the LNR opposes the very idea of federal contracts, Laporte’s enforcer-in-chief at Marcoussis Serge Simon has insisted that the FFR doesn’t need the agreement of the league – just the clubs.

At the heart of this particular stand-off is the frosty relationship between Laporte and the LNR’s godfather figure Paul Goze. The pair have reportedly barely spoken since Laporte’s election, which suggests an agreement of this scale is on the far side of impossibly unlikely if the big man of the LNR is involved, and Simon’s comments suggest that the FFR is trying to sidestep the big man.

Simon added: “I do not know what the future is preparing for us, but we have a President who will put in place his reform. A necessary reform, not a revolution.”

With 12 league presidents standing behind their LNR leader, and only one openly in favour of the plan, Laporte will have to do some tough behind-the-scenes negotiation to avoid a long and bitter conflict in French rugby’s corridors of power.