Ex-Leinster scrum-half Luke McGrath the latest big name to join French rugby ranks 

McGrath, who joined serial Top 14 survivors Perpignan, was not the only one to make the journey from Ireland to France this summer.

New Perpignan scrum-half Luke McGrath. Pic: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho

Former Ireland and Leinster scrum-half Luke McGrath is the biggest name added to the ranks of more than 20 Irish-heritage players and coaches plying their trade in France.

McGrath, who joined serial Top 14 survivors Perpignan, was not the only one to make the journey to France this summer.

Former Munster fly-half Ben Healy left English Prem side Newcastle for La Rochelle, where he’ll vie for the 10 jersey with French senior international Antoine Hastoy and prodigious 19-year-old Diego Jurd.

The two senior players were joined by Aurillac academy hopefuls Rory Gavin, from Connacht, and Bill Hayes, who had been with Garryowen before moving to the heights of Cantal. 

Senior squad hooker Ronan Loughnane and backrow Eoghan Masterson were sure to give the pair a warm welcome.

Former Blackrock College backrow Zephaniah Lewis, 19, meanwhile, switched to the south-west coast and Biarritz for the start of the new campaign.

La Rochelle’s Ben Healy. Pic: Nick Elliott/Inpho

Dan Brennan’s move from Top 14 side Toulon to relegated Montauban saw him team up with academy backrow Charlie Fenton, who joined the Tarn-et-Garonne club from Crescent College in 2025. John Bradshaw, meanwhile, has been loaned to Carcassonne, in the third-tier Nationale.

Another former Munster player, Toulon’s French international centre Antoine Frisch has returned to fitness following a season marred by injury, just as Scotland’s Huw Jones and Les Bleus’ Gael Fickou arrive at the club, and Oliver Cowie is starting to make his mark.

Karl Martin, too, may find regular gametime hard to come by at Montpellier, where he faces competition from the likes of Arthur Vincent, August Cadot, Justo Piccardo, and Lennox Anyanwu.

TOP 14 

Bordeaux 

Staff: Noel McNamara (attack) 

La Rochelle 

Staff: Ronan O’Gara (manager), Donnacha Ryan (forwards), Sean Dougall (breakdown, contact); Players: Ben Healy (fly-half) 

Lyon 

Players: Paddy Jackson (fly-half) 

Montpellier 

Players: Karl Martin (centre) 

Perpignan 

Players: Luke McGrath (scrum-half) 

Toulouse 

Players: Josh Brennan (second row, backrow) 

Vannes 

Staff: Jeremy Davidson (forwards); Players: Adam Brennan (academy, backrow) 

PROD2 

Agen 

Staff: Dave Ryan (scrum); Players: John Madigan (second row) 

Aurillac 

Players: Ronan Loughnane (hooker), Eoghan Masterson (backrow), Rory Gavin (academy, second row), Bill Hayes (academy, backrow) 

Brive 

Players: John Cooney (scrum-half), Stuart Olding (fly-half) 

Montauban 

Players: Daniel Brennan (prop), Charlie Fenton (academy, backrow) 

Nevers 

Players: Liam Turner (centre) 

Soyaux-Angouleme 

Players: Eoghan Barrett (winger), Peter Lydon (fullback)