Rugby: Beware, French revolution is on

All Blacks fullback Mils Muliaina is set to follow Rudi Wulf to France after the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Getty Images

Just five years ago, France was only for the adventurous, or for those rejected by the big English clubs. Now it is the preferred destination of New Zealand and Australian players heading offshore; the country they scour first for opportunity.

Mils Muliaina is the latest big name to all but confirm he will be off after the World Cup and, while Ospreys are leading the chase, there are believed to be French suitors - possibly Toulouse, Toulon and Bayonne.

Brad Thorn, still wavering, is fancied for Clermont while if Dan Carter should reject the enormous offer to stay in New Zealand, he won't be looking anywhere other than France.

Sonny Bill Williams has already done time at Toulon; Luke McAlister is being chased hard by Toulouse and Joe Rokocoko was hounded by Toulon last year until he turned them down and they attracted Rudi Wulf.

The pace of French recruitment has been accelerating since the last World Cup. Anton Oliver and Byron Kelleher were the only two of the 2007 All Black squad to make the shift to France. A year later, Jerry Collins and Chris Masoe joined them there as has Sione Lauaki and Carl Hayman.

A host of other players close to the A-List - such as All Blacks Troy Flavell, Ross Filipo, Saimone Taumoepeau, Campbell Johnstone and Kevin Senio - are stars in the French Top 14 now.

It's not just New Zealanders heading there. Matt Giteau has signed with Toulon, the same club Victor Matfield joined in 2007 and where Joe van Niekerk is a must-pick. John Smit had a sabbatical at Clermont; Frans Steyn is in Paris and Bakkies Botha could be on his way to Toulon after the World Cup.

Even the English are heading across the Channel in their droves, to such an extent that the Rugby Football Union has had to draw up legislation that it won't pick players based in France for the national team. Jonny Wilkinson and James Haskell are the two biggest names to venture there.

Once viewed as an outpost suitable only for those who had no choice, the French Top 14 is now the glamour competition of world rugby.

The key to its sudden popularity is money. The Top 14, on every measure, is bigger than the domestic football league - Ligue 1.

The sugar daddy owners, with deep enough pockets as it is, benefit from municipal ground ownership so common in France; a major broadcast deal; healthy crowds that can stretch to 80,000 and a wealth of corporate sponsors. They are also unrestricted by salary caps, which is why the three highest-paid players - Sebastien Chabal, Hayman and Jonny Wilkinson - are all in France.

When Hayman turned down a package estimated to be worth about $700,000 a season to come home last year, it highlighted the wealth gap. Toulon were reportedly offering double, which is why New Zealand Rugby Union Steve Tew was left to climb on his favourite hobby horse - appealing in vain for sanity to prevail in French rugby.

"We have been concerned about the money on offer in France for some time," he said. "The money offered by Toulon has no footing in reality. We don't know how they reach the values they do but they are owned by a private individual, so there is not much we can do."

Money is not the sole factor in attracting players to France. It helps but so too does the climate and the lifestyle. Seasoned internationals spend ample time touring the northern hemisphere and there is nothing quite like a week in the Cardiff snow to shatter any allure there might have been.

The players' intelligence network is much improved and no one signs an offshore contract these days having just asked about the money. Players are better briefed on the quality of rugby and personnel they will encounter and also the lifestyle.

Most pros have a mate they can call for the real story, which is why France is experiencing a boom. Swansea, Limerick, Northampton, Leicester, Newcastle and Cardiff are all great rugby centres, all have their own charms - but they are acquired tastes and in the depths of winter it would take the most forgiving wife to understand why they family had been dragged to some eternally grey, urban tundra.

"You talk to different guys," said Muliaina late last year about his impending move offshore. "There are certain places that do appeal that perhaps do so differently to others."

The Toulon squad regularly dip in the Med after training. The boys at Biarritz surf in the afternoons; Toulouse is the gateway to the Pyrenees and skiing, while those at Montpellier can flop on the beach - famous for being populated by only the beautiful people.

The French have a way of life; they have style and culturally they are much closer to New Zealand than the UK. Carter felt some kind of spiritual alignment with the French during his sabbatical at Perpignan and it's his connection with the people and the way of life as much as the money that could take him back there in 2012.

"France is almost like a second home for me," he says. "I love the culture and the history. It is a fantastic place to live. There is some great rugby history there. It suited me really well and the French people respected my privacy.

"Obviously when I was playing at Perpignan, things were pretty crazy around the stadium - which was understandable. But when you are out for dinner, they look after you and then leave you alone which I really liked. Also there was being able to travel to different parts of France where rugby is not so big, it was pretty cool and I loved that."

Sun, sea, sand, good food, easy living - it's easy to see the attraction. What has also helped de-mystify the experience has been the willingness of many clubs to be more open to Anglophile values.

The biggest barrier to entry even five years ago was the language.

Few, if any, Kiwi players had a grasp of French and the thought of being in a foreign country where they didn't speak English went into the too-hard basket.

There is a critical mass of English-speaking players and coaches in France now that has meant the non-French speakers don't feel entirely lost in the dressing room. There was, almost unbelievably given the typical resistance of the French to speak anything other than their native tongue, a fascinating story last year when Brive revealed they were sending their coaches for English lessons.

There were 16 English speakers in the first team squad and it seemed easier to bring the mountain to Mohammed.

Some of the idiosyncratic or bizarrely French methods have disappeared, too. Horror stories always bound about training sessions in France that are plain nuts. The emphasis is always on the physical and it's not unknown for training to be nothing more than full contact games - first team versus the under-21s.

Again the influx of foreigners has opened minds to alternative ways of doing things. When Auckland fullback Brent Ward headed to Paris in 2007 to join Racing Metro, he was pleasantly surprised to find that sanity and sports science were prevailing.

The presence of former All Black Simon Mannix as assistant coach brought a greater emphasis on micro skills development.

"Our coach was Pierre Berbizier and we also had Simon Mannix there and they both wanted to play with a bit of enterprise. So while we did more contact training than I had experienced in New Zealand, there was a fair bit of time spent on skills, too."

Far from being a last choice, France is now top of the list for leading New Zealanders. By the end of this year, Muliana [Toulon], Brad Thorn [Clermont], Joe Rokocoko, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Luke McAlister, John Afoa and Neemia Tialata could all be playing there. So too could Carter.

Super Rugby kicked off this year again self-proclaiming itself the toughest provincial/club competition in the world. Maybe it is but, at this rate, all the big names will be playing in France.

The Kiwi French connection

Toulon: Saimone Taumoepeau, Carl Hayman, Rudi Wulf

Castres: Chris Masoe, Carl Hoeft, Cameron McIntyre, Josh Tatupu

Biarritz: Campbell Johnstone

Bayonne: Ross Filipo, Troy Flavell, Byron Kelleher

Clermont: Kevin Senio, Sione Lauaki, Tasesa Lavea*, Ti'o Paulo*, Gavin Williams*

Bourgoin: Tone Kopelani

Toulouse: Byron Kelleher (leaving this year; may go to Bayonne)

*Samoan internationals born in New Zealand.

A handful of big name New Zealanders are mulling over offers to join French clubs

Mils Muliaina

Toulon coach Philippe Saint-Andre is a big admirer and as a former fullback would value the All Black appropriately. The club have already splashed out to get Matt Giteau. Bayonne and Toulouse may be interested too but it might be Ospreys, who are looking to replace the departing Lee Byrne who win the battle.

Brad Thorn

The big lock is keeping his options open but top of the list is a move to Clermont. The French champions have a Kiwi coach in Vern Cotter and are almost certain of a Heineken Cup place - which is what Thorn covets. They have made him a one-year offer with the option to extend for another.

Luke McAlister

The Blues inside back hasn't settled well since he returned from Sale in 2009. He made a big name for himself while he was in Europe and attracted several offers to stay before committing to the NZRU. McAlister seems back on the market and Toulouse are chasing hard.

Dan Carter

Has had notes of interest from various French clubs - believed to be Perpignan, Toulon and Racing Metro. He remains emotionally attached to Perpignan, having spent six months there in 2009. They have signed Welsh utility back James Hook on a massive contract which could possibly mean they have given up on Carter...or just that they have an enormous budget.