Paul Rees recalls a few blood 'n' thunder clashes between French and Welsh sides in the Heineken Cup ahead of Brive's trip to face the Scarlets in The Guardian.
"Brive return to the Heineken Cup tomorrow after an 11-year absence. They do so, perhaps fittingly, in Wales. There they face the Scarlets in Llanelli, but the milieu they step into to is far different to the one they were used to in the early years of the competition.
"The Heineken Cup was then known for confrontations between Welsh and French sides on and off the field. Local police forces were put on alert, arrests and charges were far from the exception and the board of European Rugby Cup Ltd became used to sitting in judgement on warring Celts and Gauls.
"Cardiff's first match in the inaugural tournament in Bègles in 1995 became so violent that their second row, Derwyn Jones, at one point shouted: "Circle the wagons." Llanelli and Pau were each fined £20,000, half of which was suspended, in 1997 after a match ERC said was smeared with examples of gratuitous violence. Brive and Pontypridd fought a notorious encounter the same year: two players were sent off and a brawl erupted that night in a bar packed with players from both sides."
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