What we've all known for a while...

...About French Rugby.

Martin Gillingham here goes in to detail as to why the French league really isn't the place to go for tries. A sign of the times perhaps? And maybe cause for concern for the national team? It certainly looked like they'd lost that old french fizz in the WC.

Full Story:
"Were you to offer me a ticket and trip to the Ernest Wallon I’d bite your hand off. Do the same for Welford Road then I might have to think a little longer before accepting. For starters, the prospect of post-match dinner at a brasserie in the corner of Toulouse’s Place du Capitole is rather more appealing than a kebab in the shadow of HM Prison, Leicester. It’s also a general assumption that 80 minutes of Rouge et Noir is likely to be more entertaining than the traditional fare of biff, bash, bosh dished out across from the local nick by the Tigers.

Indulging in stereotypes, though, can be dangerous.

The evidence of the last few weeks in France suggests that “French flair” is in danger of becoming a tired cliché as the country’s top clubs plot a more pragmatic route to the play-offs.

Why score tries when the emerging trend suggests you can boot your way to the summit?

This morning, Toulouse sit proudly on that summit. Their Heineken Cup campaign kicks off this weekend at home to Gloucester and the Rouge et Noir do so comforted by the knowledge that they have their 13 Top 14 rivals just where they want them – beneath them.

It’s the same position they were in this time last year. Back then, victory in round 10 took them to the top of the table, a position they never relinquished all the way to lifting the Bouclier de Brennus in Paris in June. In that 10th game they beat Perpignan at the Stade Municipale in Toulouse – as they did this last weekend.

Twelve months ago, Toulouse were an irresistible force, running in five tries in a stylish 38-29 victory. On Saturday, there was none of the traditional elan as the champions won without making more than the occasional foray into the Perpignan 22 and, only once, threatened to cross the try line. Instead, they relied on the boot of former All Black Luke McAlister who smashed over six penalties with his replacement, Lionel Beauxis, chipping in with a seventh.
Toulouse won 21-17 with Perpignan going home with just a losing bonus point despite scoring the day’s only two tries.

At this point allow me a brief digression, because followers of Wales rugby will greet with mixed emotions the details of James Hook’s successful debut for the Catalans. His perfectly-weighted cross kick in the opening minutes created the first try for wing Farid Sid while his 48-metre drop goal on the half-hour almost certainly had Toulouse’s returning World Cup stars – and perhaps even Perpignan’s as well – struggling to contain a smirk considering the role played by Wales kickers in Les Bleus’ narrow semi-final squeak in Auckland last month.

Back to the bigger picture.

Saturday’s defeat left Perpignan rueing the influence of the whistle and kicking tee … for the second straight week. Seven days earlier at Stade Jean Dauger the Catalans had successfully defended their try line for the full 80 minutes yet finished up losing. On that occasion, five Bayonne penalties and a drop goal did for them 18-16 despite Perpignan having scored the game’s only try.

More than ever before, a place kicker’s statistics this season bears the closest relationship to his team’s league position.

By way of illustration the most absurd set of numbers come from Castres who have scored just 10 tries in 10 matches with eight of them coming in just two games. In fact, they have crossed their opponents’ try line just once in their last eight hours of competitive rugby.

These are the sort of numbers that tend to characterise a club battling for survival and hastily re-writing budgets in anticipation of relegation.

Not so in Castres’ case. They lie third in the Top 14 and just five points behind leaders Toulouse with those 10 tries good enough to win seven games. They won four straight matches – against Brive, Lyon, Toulouse and Montpellier – without scoring a single try.

A little over a fortnight ago, Castres were top of the table with their previous 96 points having come by the way of 32 penalty kicks. Then in round nine, and half-an-hour into their home match against Racing Metro, their hopelessly naive captain Chris Masoe scored a try which ended a five-week, five-pointer drought. An hour later, Castres’ seven-match winning streak had come to an end. Typical.

Their experience – and, to a lesser extent, Perpignan’s as well – suggests that this season’s blueprint for success places only so much emphasis on crossing the whitewash. Even so, and on behalf of those who adore traditional French virtues, can we have please some more tries?"

Does the top 14 have 4 try bonus points? That could alter the approach towards attacking if not

Yes the Top 14 has a 4 try bonus but i think you have to be 3 tries clear, ie basically I think a losing team can only get one point, not two as they can in the Jeff, Rabo & Super comps. I think, open to correction on that point!