Ronan O’Gara’s Racing Metro end policy of spending big on overseas superstars

Ronan O’Gara’s Racing have a new name this season, and a new look to their backline following the departures of Jonathan Sexton and Jamie Roberts over the summer.

The Parisian club have dropped the ‘Metro’ from their name and are now known as Racing 92, and in beating Bernard Jackman’s Grenoble last weekend they fielded five Frenchmen in their backline, a novelty for a club that in recent years has spent millions on acquiring overseas talent.

That victory, Racing’s third in the first four matches of the season, moved them into fourth spot in the Top 14 and bodes well for the second half of the season when their backline will be bolstered by the return from the World Cup of Alexandre Dumoulin, Brice Dulin and Remi Tales.