Jantjies, Plummer, Price, Beard…: the transfer market is largely driven by foreign recruits this fall. The general public is surprised and even regularly moved by this relatively large influx of non-Jiffs when the regulations of the French championship intend to promote national training. But this is easily explained.
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A very tense Jiff market
There were indeed some possible good deals to be made on the Jiff side by “June 2025”: Matthieu Jalibert, Léo Barré, Davit Niniashvili, Nolann Le Garrec, Yoram Moefana and Baptiste Couilloud were on the market. But given the current wealth of the French pool (75 players were called up by Fabien Galthié in 2024…), the number of “potential” internationals available was reduced to a bare minimum. Logical when we know the appetite of clubs to “lock”, at least two years before the end of their commitment, their headliners.
This year, UBB, Toulouse and La Rochelle have taken the lead on the majority of their active Blues. With the exception of Matthieu Jalibert, whose extension at UBB is only a question of details, the fate of the other players mentioned has been known since the summer. This shortage of Jiffs with high potential set the tone: non-internationals with less pedigree subsequently saw their ratings rise, like Mateo Garcia, Paul Graou or Beka Gorgadze; then, for clubs that have not found what they are looking for in this area, resorting to non-Jiffs has become very tempting, if not inevitable.
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Market opportunities that come at the right time
As we have said, the Jiff internationals available were few in number and therefore “expensive”, market logic dictates. To find the much-hoped-for “big names”, certain clubs have been forced to look abroad. Montpellier, particularly active in this area, provides an eloquent example. Champion of France 2022, the club chaired by Mohed Altrad remains ambitious but does not currently benefit from the power of attraction of Toulouse, La Rochelle or Bordeaux.
While more than fifteen of its players were reaching the end of their commitment, the MHR went to pick up internationally what it could not decently obtain in France: this is how the second Welsh line Adam Beard, New Zealand hooker Ricky Riccitelli and even scrum half Ali Price were recently poached. Clermont, without a French solution in 10, did the same with Harry Plummer just like Bayonne with Herschel Jantjies in the scrum, the UBB with Jean-Luc du Preez in 8 or even the Section Pau with Julian Montoya at the back.
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The power of attraction of France
The more the years pass, the more obvious France's economic superiority becomes. If Japan attracts renowned internationals, it does so in limited numbers. No other championship is today able to compete with the Top 14 in terms of overall financial offers. In the Premiership, long number one rival of the French championship, the average salary is currently around £13,000 per month (around €15,500) while the Top 14 is at €19,300 gross per month. Consequently, players playing in other competitions are particularly inclined to submit their CVs on the French market to monetize their talents. Which obviously gives ideas to recruiters, who can have up to 13 non-Jiffs within their workforce.
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