Le French Rugby Podcast

We're joined by the newly crowned King of Biarritz, Steffon Armitage, as he prepares to catch a flight to Ibiza after slotting over the winning kick at goal in a sudden death penalty shootout against bitter rivals Bayonne to win promotion to the Top 14. We also chat about what that means to both Basque clubs, take a look at the Barrages in the Top 14 and look ahead to the semi-finals... Hosted on...

Johnnie and Benji are back to reflect on a crazy final day in the Top 14 regular season and one of them might be a bit smug after predicting exactly what order the top six would finish in! We dissect all the late drama, look ahead to a Paris derby in the Barrages and a Basque derby for a place in next season's Top 14 and we catch up with Perpignan's Piula Fa'asalele, fresh from the beach bar, to f...

Benji and Johnnie are back to look ahead to a frantic finale in the Top 14 regular season where almost every game has something major riding on it and there are a host of different permutations, all of which viewers in the UK can now watch on Premier Sports after we teased that news last week! We get their predictions on who will make the play-offs, who will get into the Champions Cup for next sea...

Benji and Johnnie are back to analyse all the action from the first French double in the Champions & Challenge Cups since 1997, including Benji's eye witness account of Levani Botia's red card offence, and we're joined by a newly crowned European Cup winner with an incredible tale to tell. Toulouse's Thibaud Flament joins us how he's gone from fly half in the Loughborough University 5th team t...

We're back with a comprehensive preview of the upcoming all-French Champions Cup final and a look at whether Montpellier can make it a French double in terms of the two European trophies for the first time since 1997! We discuss Toulouse's injury concerns, La Rochelle's rise, who has the edge in terms of talent, power and coaching and Benji gets deep about how much it means after coming so close t...

Bordeaux's Australian international second row Kane Douglas joins us to chat about the pressure of the battle to make it into the Top 14 play-offs, as well as the extent of the Covid crisis at the club, Christophe Urios' quirks and much more. Plus, we hear Benji and Johnnie's experiences of what makes the play-off race in France so special and sets it apart from every other league in the world......

Benji and Johnnie return to look back on more French domination in Europe as we discuss La Rochelle's physically and tactically dominating Leinster and chat to Perpignan's former Clermont and France back rower Damien Chouly about what makes Jono Gibbes special...and get a bit of dirt on Benji in the process! Plus, we dissect Toulouse's win over a hamstrung Bordeaux and look at how many of the curr...

Johnnie and Benji are back to look ahead to the French dominated Champions Cup semi-finals and we're joined by former Toulouse prop and European Cup winner Census Johnston, who thinks it's Toulouse's title to lose. We hear just how intense Guy Noves was, what the Toulouse way meant for the forwards, more on Joe Tekori's now infamous reputation and how Census is now more French than Benji! Plus, we...

We're joined by All Black number eight Luke Whitelock to hear about adjusting to life in France, the differences between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, a relegation dogfight with Pau and how winning a basement battle can be better than winning the World Cup! Plus, Johnnie and Benji go head to head in a French citizenship test and things get very tense... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...

Benji and Johnnie are back to discuss the French clubs' domination of European rugby, despite a couple of less than exciting all-French quarter-finals in the Champions Cup, and we're joined by Toulouse star Zack Holmes to chat about their win over Benji's Clermont, loving life in France, playing with the likes of Dupont, Ntamack, Kolbe and co, why Jerome Kaino isn't too happy about his fashion cho...

We're joined by Racing and Scotland fly half and King of Paris Finn Russell this week to talk all aspects of his French adventure from his relationship with Virimi Vakatawa and Simon Zebo to what car he's driving down the Champs Elysees, whether there's frustration at constantly being labelled a maverick and much more. Plus, of course there's a look ahead to what it'd mean to be selected for the B...

Johnnie and Benji are back to dissect France's failings and a famous win for Scotland in Paris, as well as discuss how a fresh waffle-related drama inspired Stuart Hogg and co to victory. Johnnie gives us the lowdown from inside the Stade de France and tells us of plans to buy a Parisian nightclub with Finn Russell, Benji analyses France's tournament as a whole and we look ahead to the return of E...

France's title dream lives on after a crazy last 10 minutes in Paris and Johnnie fills us in on what it was like pitchside at the Stade de France, while Benji gives us the lowdown on the refereeing and TMO decisions after chatting to Romain Poite and Mathieu Raynal. We discuss Fabien Galthie's comments on Paul Willemse and the Welsh players specialising in getting players sent off, chat about Irel...

Johnnie and Benji break down all the goings on in one of the great games of recent years at Twickenham, talk tactics and Galthie being outcoached by Jones and the Grand Slam may have slipped away for France but the title is still in their sights so we build up to an epic encounter against Wales this weekend, as well as rounding up all of the rest of the Six Nations action... Hosted on Acast. See a...

The one and only Joe Marler joins us this week to look ahead to England v France and talk about everything from his view of this current France side to the ones he's played against in years gone by to cigarettes in the changing rooms, learning French from his son and much more. Plus, we look at what's happened in the wake of Fabien's trip out and wafflegate, whether France will be ready and where...

Benji and Johnnie are back to discuss what sanctions Fabien Galthie should face for breaching France's bubble, whether the French sports minister might intervene, the rearranged date for the Scotland game and the standard of French refereeing in the Six Nations. Plus, we catch up with Mr Greig Laidlaw in Japan, who gives us an insight into what the players in the Scotland camp are thinking, tells...

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures and we're back for a bonus pod to discuss the fallout from the postponement of France's clash with Scotland. We weigh up when the game could possibly be played in a ridiculously congested calendar, how the release of players from clubs can be secured and consider whether more specific contingency plans should have been in place. Plus, we chat abo...

Benji and Johnnie are back to discuss what's been going on in France camp with a host of players and coaches testing positive for Covid-19, how the enforced personnel changes and lack of training might affect them, whether the game against Scotland will and should go ahead and much more. Plus, we hear how it was really Johnnie who masterminded Scotland's victory over France in last year's Six Nati...

Who better to have on the show to talk about France's first victory in Dublin for a decade than a former Ireland international who now supports France and serves Antoine Dupont in his bar! Former Toulouse & Leinster legend Trevor Brennan joins us to look back at the game and talk about his sons representing France, the ban that ended his playing career, where the sport's at right now and just...

Johnnie's fingerprints are all over the pod this week after Scotland's first victory over England at Twickenham for 38 years and we're joined by Scotland's most capped back rower and Clermont legend Jason White too. As well as talking all things Calcutta Cup, we hear stories about Vern Cotter's famous training camps, Philippe Saint-Andre's questionable memory and much more and, of course, we look...

We look ahead to the 2021 Six Nations and especially whether France's time has come or whether the absence of the likes of Virimi Vakatawa and Camille Chat will cause major problems for Fabien Galthie. We also look back at Johnnie and Benji's memories of the tournament from the days of VHS cassettes! We put our money where our mouth is in terms of predictions for this year's Six Nations and take a...

As well as looking back on last week's episode and reflecting on Johnnie and Benji's experience of S&C coaches, we're joined by superagent and former England international Jamie Noon to chat wheeling and dealing, the state of the market at the moment, interacting with volatile owners, clearing up problems and the unseen work they do to help players along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

We discover the secret behind France's renaissance over the past 18 months on this week's episode as Les Bleus' Head of Athletic Performance Thibault Giroud joins us. The former sprinter, American footballer and bobsleigher talks us through how he's changed the culture in the French camp since taking the job just before the 2019 World Cup, what training the players do and the metrics used, what he...

Former Clermont, Scotland and British & Irish Lions second row Nathan Hines joins us to chat about his coaching career in Montpellier, clashing with the recently sacked Xavier Garbajosa and moving to Cheshire. He also discusses playing with Johnnie and Benji, what Vern Cotter is really like and fills us in on his experience in the bubble for the Barbarians game against England that never happe...

Toulouse's All Black legend Jerome Kaino joins us to talk about their game against Exeter being called off, adjusting to life in France, the influence of Joe Tekori on and off the field, wanting to stay and coach the youngsters at Toulouse and much more. Plus, Johnnie's been banished to the basement and we're joined by another very special guest... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i...