Patrice Lagisguet, manager of France Classic Rugby, was nicknamed the “Bayonne Express”.

He played on the wing for France from 1983-1991, making 46 appearances and scoring 20 tries.

He played in the 1987 and 1991 Rugby World Cups, as well as for five season in the Five Nations (champions twice).

He started his coaching career with Biarritz Olympique in 1997, winning the French title on three occasions and in 2012 he became the backs & defence coach for France.

Sean Lamont (Scotland) is Scotland’s third most capped player having represented hIs country on 105 occasions from 2004 -2017.

He started his club career with Rotherham where he was the Under-21 captain in 2001, moving to Glasgow Warriors in 2003 where he made 42 appearances. He then moved to Northampton Saints in 2005 where he scored four tries against Saracens shortly after he arrived. In 2009 he moved to Wales to play for Scarlets before returning to Glasgow Warriors in 2012.

He scored 320 points in his club career and 70 points for Scotland at either centre or wing.

He retired from international rugby in 2017 and is making his second Classic appearance.

David Corkery (Ireland) made his debut for Ireland at open-side flanker in 1994 against Australia in Brisbane.

He went on to gain 27 caps for Ireland including playing in four games in the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa and was a member of the Irish squad at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. He played at Schools and Under 21 levels for Ireland and his club rugby for Cork Constitution and Munster.

He has captained the Classic Lions for the past few years and remains loyal to them in spite of the presence of an Irish team at this year’s Classic!

Ollie Smith (England) played at U-18, U-19 and U-21 levels for England before gaining his first cap in 2003 for the senior team. A serious knee injury was to curtail his international career as he played just five time for England (2003-2005) and once for the Lions against New Zealand (2005).

He played his club rugby with Leicester Tigers (174) and Harlequins (11) before injury forced his retirement.

Olly Barkley (England) was capped on 23 occasions at outhalf and centre for England from 2001 to 2008. He was first capped at 19 years of age on England’s tour of the USA before he had made a senior appearance for his club Bath.

His club career was primarily for Bath (239) but over a sixteen year period he also played for Gloucester (29) Racing Metro (16) Grenoble (5) Scarlets (8) and London Welsh (39).

Ceri Sweeney (Wales) played 35 times for Wales at outhalf & centre from 2003-2007 making his debut against England, He played in the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups.

His club rugby was played mainly in Wales with Pontypridd (107), Celtic Warriors (12) Newport (86) Cardiff (113) while he also played 16 times for Exeter.

Rob Dewey (Scotland) made his name in the amateur game in Scotland being Heriots top try scorer. That form earned him a professional contract with Edinburgh in 2005, scoring eleven tries in his first year at centre.

His season was cut short due to injuries but in 2016 he made his debut for Scotland against Romania and played a total of sixteen times for his country.

He played his club rugby for Edinburgh (22), Ulster (21) and Glasgow (26)

Federico Martin Aramburu (Argentina) was capped twenty-two times for his country from 2002 to 2005 in the centre and on the wing. He played his club rugby in France from 2004-2010 before joining Glasgow Warriors where he made 41 appearances in 2010-2011. He returned to Argentina for the 2011-2012 where he played for CASA

Gonzalo Tiesi (Argentina) was capped 38 times for Argentina from 2004-2014 in the centre. He played in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, when Argentina finished in third place, and also in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He played his club rugby for S.I.C in 2003-2005 before moving to Europe where he played for London Irish (2005-2008), Harlequins (2008-2010), Stade Francais (2010-2012) and then returned to S.I.C for a short spell. He then joined London Welsh for the 2013 and finished his club career with Newcastle Falcons (2013-2016).

Bernardo Stortoni (Argentina) played 26 times for his country at fullback from 1998 to 2008. He played his club rugby for Narbonne (2001-2003), Rotherham (2004-2004), Bristol (2004-2007) before joining Glasgow Warriors where he played 96 times from 2007-2011.

Julio Farias Cabello (Argentina) played for Argentina U21’s, Argentina Jaguars before being capped for Argentina, playing 30 times at lock and flanker from 2010-2013. He played his club rugby for Rouen (2006-2009) before returning to Argentina to play for Tucuman ((2009-2012) and then to the UK to played for London Welsh (2012-2013) before returning to Tucuman (2013)

Conrad Jantjes (South Africa) was capped 24 times for South Africa at fullback from 2001-2008 and also represented his country at junior level in cricket and football. He played for the Stormers in Super Rugby and for the Western Province in Provincial Rugby.

Butch James (South Africa) played 42 times for South Africa from 2001-2011. He played in the 2007 Rugby World Cup and in the final kicked South Africa to a win over England.

Following the World Cup he joined Bath having played 122 times for the Sharks in South Africa

His career was curtailed as a result of a number of injuries but still managed to score nearly 1,200 points for Club and country

Andries Strauss (South Africa) played at Schools, Under-19, Under -21, Sevens and for the National team from 2003 to 2010. His club career at centre included 80 appearances for the Sharks (S.A.) and 49 appearances for Edinburgh. He played in the Under 21 Rugby World Cup and the IRB Sevens World Series.

Ryan Kankowski (South Africa) played 22 times at Number 8 or flanker for South Africa from 2007-2012, including three Tests against the Lions in 2009. His club rugby was with the Sharks (1660 from 2006-2015 before joining Toyota in Japan from 2013-2017.

Matteo Pratichetti (Italy) was capped 24 times for Italy at centre or wing from 2004-2011, including the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He played his club rugby primarily with Calvisano (66) Aironi (26) and Zebre (64).

Simone Favaro (Italy) played 36 times for Italy from 2009 to 2017 in the backrow, following in the footsteps of his father (Roberto) who also played for Italy. He played his club rugby with Rovigo (22), Aironi (30) Treviso (35) and Glasgow (30).

Ramiro Pez (Italy) played 40 times for Italy, having been born in Argentina, at outhalf scoring 260 points. He played his club rugby with Rotherham scoring 688 points and Leicester Tigers scoring 100 points. He was the primary contributor to Italy’s win over Argentina in 2005.

Quintin Geldenhuys (Italy) was born in South Africa and was capped 67 times for Italy at lock from 2009-2016. He played his club rugby for Viadana (2005-2010), Aironi (2010-2102) and Zebre (2012-2017)

Peter Dahl (USA) played at flanker for the National team on 15 occasions and also for the USA 7’s team.

Mose Timoteo (USA) played 32 times for his country at scrumhalf and as well as 25 times for the USA 7’s team.

Paddy Wallace (Ireland) played his club rugby, primarily at outhalf and centre, with Ulster (2001-2014) where he appeared on 189 occasions, scoring 411 points. He played for Ireland at Under-19 and A levels before being capped for the senior team in 2006 and went on to play 30 times from 2006-2012. He played in the 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cups.