In fact, the first big recruitment news broke more than two weeks before the current campaign even kicked off, when Racing 92 confirmed that rising star scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec had signed a four-year contract with La Rochelle, starting in July 2025.
Sometimes quite often, in fact - all the speculation gets ahead of itself. There is, for example, a crucial problem with the flurry of reports linking players to Montpellier. In short, the JIFF numbers don't add up.
Montpellier skated close to the rules last season, too. It was only with the departure of former Exeter prop Harry Williams for Pau-confirmed in July - that they, belatedly, fell into line with the rule that limits the number of senior non-JIFF players on their books to 13.
If reports are to be believed, Montpellier have been by far the most active French club on the transfer market in the early part of the current campaign. And they seem particularly interested in overseas signings.
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