Forging a place at the front of the scrum for sport’s top talents

The transfer of Ireland out-half Johnny Sexton to Racing Metro has acquainted Irish fans of the oval ball with a fact of life: A new breed of owner now holds sway in French rugby and they will allow little to get in their way.

Two businessmen, Jacky Lorenzetti and Mourad Boudjellal, are behind a revolution in the French domestic game which has resulted in a tripling in player salaries to around €10,000 a month. Lorenzetti, a real estate tycoon, has been the owner of Racing Metro since 2006. He pushed Racing Metro into the top flight Top 14 league in 2009.

The deal with Sexton — set for April — while generous to the Dubliner, will hardly stretch the owner, who is said to have netted hundreds of millions when he sold 93% of his company, Foncia, to Banque Populaire at the top of the market in 2007. Foncia is vast, managing over a million properties in four countries.