The French rugby retirement option so beloved of ageing New Zealand players could be about to take a hit.
France's National Rugby League (LNR) boss has said the powerful French clubs who have bankrolled retirement plans for Kiwis are facing losses of up to 35 million Euro due to the French Government's imposition of strict limits on crowd sizes.
France's 30 professional clubs are due to start their 2020-21 season next week but until at least October 30, stadiums will only be able to cater for 5000 spectators unless they get dispensations from local authorities.
The limits would add to financial difficulties clubs were facing and to avoid the possibility of clubs shutting down, the government needed to take action, the president of the NRL, Paul Goze told AFP.
The LNR stance on the spectator limitations is that if the government demands a cap on spectator numbers, then they should offer clubs in the Top 14 and Pro2, a financial cushion.
"Without help, clubs and the professional championship could disappear," Goze said.
And Goze warned that wouldn't be a good look three years out from France hosting the next Rugby World Cup.
"We cannot imagine a World Cup taking place in a country where half of the professional clubs have disappeared after the pandemic," he said.
Meanwhile, discussion in La Rochelle has emerged about the occasion the club turned down the opportunity to have former All Blacks captain Graham Mourie play a season for the side.
Mourie had led the All Blacks on their first tour of France in 1977 during which they produced one of the great comebacks to level the Test series 1-1. Previous visits to France had been at the end of tours to Britain and Ireland.
Mourie, according to Midi Olympique, had enquired about possibly playing for La Rochelle.
Club historian Jean-Michel Blaizeau said he understood Mourie, who was an agronomist by training, wanted to tie in playing with an internship at the dairy Industrial School of Surgeres.
While there was independent backing to allow Mourie to play, it was not from an administrator at the club.
The idea of having a foreign player clashed with the club's 'protectionist ideology', Midi Olympique said.
Because of the strength of rugby in the area, and because of its development programme among junior players, there was a belief that local players should not have to make way for foreign players.
The club's stance was viewed as brave considering the more accommodating stance so common among other clubs.
Mourie instead ended up playing for Paris University, alongside his fellow All Black loose forward Lawrie Knight.
La Rochelle eventually opened up to foreigners, one of them being former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.