Looking through the teams involved in the French Top 14 table in 2009-10, there is something you will notice. Albi, Bayonne, Biarritz, Bourgoin, Brive, Castres, Clermont, Montauban, Montpellier, Perpignan, Racing, Stade Français, Toulon, and Toulouse.  No Bordeaux. No La Rochelle. Just 15 years ago, both clubs were not in the top division of French rugby. Five years later, they were finding their feet in the league but going nowhere. Both finished in the bottom half of the table and outside the play-offs in 2015. Stade Français won the title that June and haven’t won a trophy since. Fast forward to…

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