It's been a topsy-turvy start to the season for much-fancied Toulon, but as club flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd explains, an early-season home defeat may have been just the thing to rid them of any complacency. The former Bristol man this week talks about that home loss to Bayonne and the backlash which followed away to Biarritz, where Toulon won for the first time in 29 years - and under his captaincy to boot! Take the applause Captain El-Abd...

I always think that after you have lost a game it's time to shut up and get to work on the training field in an attempt to put things right. So that’s exactly what I did last week, no blog, no interviews just hard work.

The opening weekend of the season did not go to plan. As we all know home matches are sacred in France so to lose our first match to Bayonne - a team that finished 13^th last season - was inexcusable. It was the first time we had lost at home in 18 months, so we are no longer ‘Invaincu a Mayol’.

On the eve of the new French season Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd gets shirty with BooStyle, talks about Toulon's hopes for winning some silverware and runs his keen eye over 2010/11 main championship contenders.

After last Thursday night's 25-22 victory against Stade Francais we go into the new 2010/11 campaign unbeaten over the pre-season period. The match against Stade was a real test and was exactly what we were looking for before we take on Bayonne in the first match of the season.  

After last year's disappointing season Stade looked good and I think they will be a real force to be reckoned with under their new coach Michael Cheika.

Top 14 Fixtures 2010/11

After the match we were given the weekend off to rest and recuperate for the long season ahead.  I must say that the weekend off was much needed as  we now go into a period of 14 matches in only 12 weeks, which will certainly test the durability and strength of all the squads in the Top 14.

Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd can't wait for the new season to begin after a pre-season camp in the Alps and three successful friendly matches. The juices are flowing once more and the intensity stepped up a notch with Friday's 39-10 trouncing of Racing-Métro.

The last time I wrote my blog a couple of weeks ago we were about to play our first friendly match of the season against Aix-en-Provence. I always like it when the pre-season games start because it usually means an end to the high intensity training associated with pre season. While training has still been tough, the emphasis is now on rugby and getting us ready on the pitch for the start of the season. 

As I mentioned previously the match verses Aix was organised to raise money following the flash floods that hit Draguinon in June. On driving through the village to the ground the damage inflicted by the floods was plain to see and I am sure the 3000 strong crowd raised some much needed funds for the area. 

After a mere four weeks off Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd has already been back in pre-season training since late June. In his first contribution of the eagerly anticipated 2010/11 season Joe talks about fatherhood, Paul Sackey's vehicular down-sizing, fitness training in 35 degree heat and Friday's forthcoming charity match against Aix-en-Provence.

They say that time flies when you are having fun but I still can’t believe that it’s been just over a year since our adventure in France began. A lot has happened over the year, and not least off the field where I became a proud father for the first time. This in itself topped off a fantastic year.

Most people would say that on the field we had a successful season after finishing second to Perpignan and getting to the final of the Amlin Challenge Cup against Cardiff. However, after losing to Clermont in the semi-final of the Top 14 and to Cardiff a week later in Europe everyone in the squad was left with a huge feeling of disappointment.

Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd this week talks to club colleagues Jonny Wilkinson and Tom May about moving to France, the mood in the Toulon camp, the struggles of learning a new language and their forthcoming Top 14 semi-final against Clermont Auvergne.

Leading up to Toulon’s big semi-final at the weekend against Clermont Auvergne I thought I’d ask a few questions to a couple of my team mates Tom May and Jonny Wilkinson on how they are enjoying life in France and their thoughts on the upcoming semi-final.

JEA: So, first how are you enjoying life on the Cote d’Azur and how has your life changed?

TM: To be fair I’ve loved the opportunity to experience life down here. The biggest difference is probably the weather as it allows you to spend a lot more time outside and due to this I think I find myself being a lot more relaxed when I am at home.

Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd this week talks about European rugby and varying fortunes of Stade Toulousain, Stade Francais, Clermont Auvergne, Biarritz and his very own Toulon.

For anyone who loves rugby the weekend couldn’t have been better. What an advert for rugby!

It all started on Friday with the game between Leinster and Clermont in what turned out to be a classic. I thought Clermont were outstanding in every facet of the game apart from arguably the most important part – goal-kicking. I think Clermont had enough chances to win the game three times over but it wasn’t to be as Brock James had one of those nights he will want to forget. In total, including two drop goals, he missed a potential 23 points in kicks which in the end decided the result.

I am not sure how Clermont are going to react after a result like that but I am sure this loss will make them even more determined to finally lift the Top 14 title.

Joe (El Abd) Blogs: 'The possibility of Tana Umaga playing again is an exciting prospect'

By Joe El Abd, 18 March 2010

Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd this week talks about the incredible atmosphere of the Stade Félix Mayol, Christian Loamanu's horrific injury and the prospect of Tana Umaga returning to the playing field in the closing stages of the season.

I mentioned in my last blog how Toulon are never too far from the headlines with regards to all the incoming transfers for next season. Well, over the past couple of weeks Toulon have hit the headlines again, but this time for a number of different reasons.

Top 14 Transfers 2010/11

Firstly, last Friday night saw the team beat table- topping Castres 19-6 at the Stade Félix Mayol. The atmosphere on the night was even more electrifying than normal and the win puts us in a strong position to achieve an all-important top six finish and a place in the end of season play-offs.

Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd this week talks about the French transfer system and reveals why he believes Welsh winger Shane Williams is set to become the club's latest high-profile signing.

For most rugby clubs in Europe the last four months of the campaign are the most interesting of the season. For one, it is the time where everything gets decided. Whether you are competing for championships, trying to fight off relegation or competing in European competition you really are entering the ‘money’ end of the season.  If this wasn’t enough the second aspect which makes it interesting is all the speculation surrounding the movement of players between the clubs around Europe. At a club like Toulon such speculation is never too far from the headlines. 

Top 14 Transfers 2010/11

So far we have confirmed the signings of Dean Schofield and Paul Sackey from the English Premiership and three players Jean-Philippe Genevois,  Karena Wihongi and Clement Baiocco from the French Top 14. I have played against the English players many times before during my time at Bristol and I must say that I think both are shrewd signings by Philippe Saint-André. Both have been at their respective clubs for some time now and I am sure that both will be excited by the new challenge being offered by Toulon.

Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd this week looks back at the opening round of the RBS Six Nations Championship - and gives his views on how each team fared, and what to expect from this weekend's games.

It's certainly been an action-packed start to 2010, with plenty of incident and controversy to discuss - from the eye-gouging scandals (involving  Stade Francais duo Julien Dupuy and David Attoub) that rocked France, to the great achievements of Top 14 teams in the Heineken Cup. And that’s without even mentioning how my club Toulon have managed to reach the last eight in a European competition for the first time in 13 years.

However, I think I’m going to have to resume my blog by talking about rugby's crown jewel in the Northern Hemisphere – the RBS Six Nations.

Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd this week looks back at his first four months in Top 14 and assesses how the 2009/10 season has panned out so far after the opening 15 rounds.

Now the Top 14 is finished for Christmas I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the competition and how it is shaping up for the New Year. While I knew that the Top 14 was no pushover the number of teams challenging for a top six berth and play-off places has surprised me. The home/away conundrum in France certainly makes the competition tighter and I see the race for the top six going down to the wire.

Starting at the top, Castres have certainly been one of the surprise packages this year. With a strong kicking game and solid defence they deserve to be at the top going into Christmas. Now they are at the top, however, no-one will be taking them lightly, but I still think they will be strong come the end of the season.

Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd this week gives an inside view of what it's like being in the 'IPG' and how professional rugby players can't possibly operate at 100% for an entire season.

I didn’t manage to write my blog last week because I was simply too busy! I was too busy because after getting injured against Perpignan I had to go into our Injured Player Group, or IPG as it is also known.

If you ask any player what is the worst part of being a professional rugby player I think that injury would come pretty high on the list. Injuries are frustrating on many levels not least because they stop you from doing what you like doing best, which is playing matches at weekends.

Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd this week asks how easy (or difficult) is it to judge an individual performance within a team sport.

One thing you learn quickly when you’re out in France is that the Midi Olympique published every Monday and Friday is French rugby’s equivalent to the bible. Each week the games are previewed and reviewed with all the top performances being singled out for praise.

As a professional rugby player you expect to get judged on a week to week basis and it's certainly the case out here in the Top 14. Players are awarded ‘etoiles’ (stars) for good performances and its always interesting to read how the reporters have viewed the match. For what is clear in a sport such as rugby is that judging how well a player has performed is no easy task. As a consequence everyone has his or her own opinions on what makes up a good performance and it always throws up much debate. So what do I think you need to look for when judging a performance?

Toulon flanker and FRC columnist Joe El Abd this week takes us into the murky world of back-row play as he investigates what makes a world-class number eight, or why his own particular skills are best suited to number seven.

Last week the TV cameras came into the club to do a piece on our back row here at Toulon. Over the years talk about who and what the back row should consist of has taken up many column inches and been given lots of airtime.

When at Bristol I remember [coach] Richard Hill saying that the first thing he thought about when selecting his team was his back row. As a back row player myself I have played in many different line-ups and have seen how different combinations have worked first hand. For while the back row is often grouped together each position has its own unique characteristics.

So what are the unique characteristics of each of the back row positions?

Toulon flanker, FRC columnist - and former YTS at Brighton & Hove Albion - Joe El Abd this week reflects on the differences and similarities between the professional sporting worlds of rugby union and football.

I have just finished reading a book called 'Woody and Nord – A football friendship'. It’s about Gareth Southgate and Andy Woodman and their lives in the world of football, and well worth a read if anyone’s interested. While reading the book myself I got thinking about the differences between the two sports, something that I find particularly interesting given that I have two brothers who both play football - Adam for Brighton & Hove Albion, Sami for Hayes & Yeading - and it’s often a subject that comes up in conversation.

I am sure you have all heard of the description often used to highlight the differences between the two sports of ‘Football is a game for gentlemen played by thugs, while rugby is a game for thugs played by gentlemen’. It’s a phrase I love to use to wind up my brothers with. While it's true to say that footballers haven’t done much to help themselves off the pitch in the past, to label them all as thugs is also probably a bit unfair (especially when regarding the recent headlines in the rugby media).

Toulon flanker, and FRC columnist, Joe El Abd this week reflects on the differing challenges of playing in Europe as France's Top 14 takes a two-week break for the Heineken Cup and Challenge Cup.

This week sees a break in the Top 14 for European competition. For a player I always think there is something special about playing in Europe and for me it’s going to be especially exciting to experience it this season from a French perspective.

We are in the Challenge Cup this year and face a group containing Saracens, Rovigo and Castres. With both Saracens and Castres flying high at the moment it looks like it is going to be a tough group to be involved in. But while Sarries and Castres and going to be really hard games it’s Rovigo that some of our new South Africans are looking forward to playing against the most as it will be their first trip to Italy.

Toulon flanker, and FRC columnist, Joe El Abd this week tackles the thorny subject of why so few teams seem to win away from home in France's Top 14.

I mentioned in a previous post about how I’d been told before that when I came out to France I shouldn’t expect to win away from home. Well, after losing for a third time away from home this weekend I thought it would be an opportune moment to talk about playing away in France. 

Top 14 Table  / Top 14 try-scorers / Top 14 Results / Top 14 Fixtures

So far this season the statistics would certainly suggest that winning away in France is more difficult when compared to the other leagues in Europe. After eight rounds in the Top 14 the away side has won less than 18% of the time. This is compared to 25% in the English premiership and 45% of the time in the Magners league. I know it’s early days but there does seem to be a trend. So what are the possible reasons that make it so difficult to win away in France?

Toulon flanker, and FRC columnist, Joe El Abd this week reflects reflects back on Toulon's superb 18-13 win against Stade Toulousain in Marseille on Sunday, and the incredible build up to a league match that attracted more than 55,000 fans.

'Special'. That’s how I would describe our victory against Toulouse at the weekend. Yes it was only four points but everything surrounding the match, from the opposition to the 55,000 strong crowd made it much more than that.

While the build up to the game was no different to any other match in the Top 14 you could tell that something special was happening. It all started at the final whistle in Montpellier where we had lost in the dying seconds to a ‘debatable’ video referee’s decision. After a loss like that there is no better team to play to help focus the mind than Toulouse. For if I have heard us likened to the Manchester City of the football world, then Toulouse are most definitely the Real Madrid. They have been one of the best teams in France and Europe for over a decade and their team-sheet reads like that of an international side. It was the sort of challenge that we wanted and needed to help us rectify the wrongs of the previous week. As I said there wasn’t a better team to play to get the show back on the road.

Toulon flanker, and former Bristol captain, Joe El Abd has joined FRC as a regular columnist - giving us the inside line on life down on the Cote d'Azur, what it's like to move from the Guinness Premiership to Top 14 and generally telling us how it is for a professional rugby player in the modern era. This week examines the differences he's already noticed between playing in France and England.

While I have only played six games in the Top 14 I am already starting to get some early impressions of French rugby. Some of these impressions have reinforced previous assumptions while others have proved unfounded. So what are the differences I have noticed so far between the French Top 14 and the English Guinness premiership?

Toulon flanker, and former Bristol captain, Joe El Abd has joined FRC as a regular columnist - giving us the inside line on life down on the Cote d'Azur, what it's like to move from the Guinness Premiership to Top 14 and generally telling us how it is for a professional rugby player in the modern era. This week he talks about money - and why it's not just the pull of the Euro that's attracting Britain's players across the Channel.

Is money the only reason why so many British players have moved to play rugby in France’s Top 14 this season? Certainly if you read or listen to most of the British media that is impression you would get, but as one of those who has moved – from Bristol to Toulon – I can give you a more complete perspective on the reasons for crossing the Channel. While it is clearly a fact of life that money plays a part in most work related decisions, for most players money is only one of many factors that makes a move out to France hard to resist. Let me explain.