Meet Le Rugby's new resident compere Jimmy Tarbes. He's here all week - try the crow.....

The clocks have gone back, the heating’s gone on and the pre-Christmas spending spree is about to begin. We all need a bit of cheering up at the moment, so who better to provide a tonic than Le Rugby’s new comedy correspondent Jimmy Tarbes. He beat off stiff competition for the gig from the likes of Huw Moore, Stan d'Uppe, an Englishman, a Scotsman and an Irishman, so buckle yourself in for a fun-filled ride...

Welsh international centre Jamie Robinson had the shock of his life when he joined Agen in the summer. An in-depth conversation with head coach Christophe Deylaud led to the former French international outside half telling Robinson that if he wasn’t playing well, he’d be pulled off at half-time. “Blimey”, replied Jamie, “I only got an orange at Cardiff!”

Le Rugby’s eastern France correspondent Alf d’Huez recently caught up with former Oyonnax favourite Sylver Tian, now plying his trade with Bourgoin in the Top 14. It had been a while since Alf had visited the Stade Pierre Rajon, so he asked the Cote d’Ivoire full back for directions to the ground. “Just follow the crowds on a Saturday afternoon” said Tian. Alf did exactly that and ended up in Carrefour!

Former Beziers back-rower Andy Powell came close to moving to Agen over the summer, before finally signing for Wasps. However, competition for first-team places will be tough at the London-based club, so he may have to settle for playing for the ‘B’ team.

Did you hear about that poor Munster fan?  Ahead of last month’s Heineken Cup clash with Toulon, he put his Munster maillot in the wash to get it nice and clean in time for the game. After leaving it on the washing line for a few hours, he nipped outside to fetch it. To his amazement some chancers had hopped over his fence and pinched the pegs!