Could we see an all-French final with few French players

With the semi-finals of the Champions Cup taking place this weekend, Clermont Auvergne and Toulon are favourites to progress to the final in what could be a repeat of the 2013 final. Saracens and Leinster will still have a say but the bookmakers strongly believe that they will both come undone. The French national team continues to struggle but the same cannot be said about their club sides who continue to dominate club Rugby, however can the likes of Toulon and Clermont even be regarded as a French clubs with most of their players not owning a French passport.

Toulon and Clermont continue to splash the cash as they look to dominate club Rugby and instead of developing young players they are bringing proven internationals from the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. In Toulon's matchday squad for the Leinster game only 8 of the 23 players are French while Clermont Auvergne have 15 French players in their matchday squad but only 8 French players start the game against Saracens. You compare Toulon and Clermont to Leinster Who have 20 Irish players in their matchday squad for the Toulon game with 19 capped by Ireland. Leinster have shown that instead of spending buckets of money signing world class players they have focused on developing young players and they have reaped the rewards with three Heineken Cups and one Amlin Cup in the last six years.

If the bookmakers are correct, Twickenham will host an all-French final in May with less emphasis on the word French with less than half of the players on the field not hailing from France. The question is, is this good for club Rugby and should their be more strict rules on the salary cap for these wealthy French clubs. With French clubs continuing to spend, will clubs from outside France stand a chance of competing in the Champions Cup and also how will this affect the development of young players in France and could the national team suffer as a result.

Ciaran Fallon