It is just over an hour until kick-off and four Britons are standing in the Aviron Bayonnais club shop, bewildered by hospitality. Each has a jersey, beret, foulard and full-size rugby ball, and we will walk out without paying a penny. We are there as guests of a club director, who is welcoming arrivals by decking them out in ciel et blanc. This is what they do for outsiders in Bayonne. Provided you aren’t the opposition.
Manu Tuilagi will join Bayonne next season and they are also interested in Danny Care. This ends Tuilagi’s England career, but it will open up something singular. Of all the great cathedrals of rugby, Bayonne’s may just be the best in the world right now.
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