The emergence of Pau
That is where Section Paloise, in the Béarn region of south-west France, come in. Although Pau have always been knocking around in the upper echelons of French rugby, certainly in the professional era, they have never been considered one of French rugby’s traditional big-hitters. That is, until this season.
Pau sit second in the Top 14 and last Sunday put Bordeaux, the reigning European champions, to the sword, winning 39-17. It would require a capitulation of Devon Loch proportions for them to not qualify for the end-of-season play-offs.
Pau’s director of rugby is Sébastien Piqueronies, the Frenchman who was described to Telegraph Sport for a 2022 article on France’s talent pipeline as the “mastermind behind the current explosion across the Channel”. Piqueronies was the coach when France under-20s won back-to-back world titles in 2018 and 2019. Many of that title-winning crop are now playing for Galthié’s senior side. And, guess what, now at Pau, Piqueronies is at it again.
It is not just Brau-Boirie and Gailleton who ply their trade in the Béarn region. Théo Attissogbe, the 21-year-old who has started all of France’s Six Nations games, also plays for Pau. Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang and Grégoire Arfeuil, two further back-three players, of 25 and 21 years respectively, are also under Piqueronies’s guidance, and also in Galthié’s wider squad.