Rucking Hell!: The World's Greatest Administrators

In the United States of America, if you are a millionaire with a penchant for the public spotlight, you run for President. Romney is a notorious tax dodger with millions of un-taxable US dollars hiding in the Cayman Islands and other such exotic retreats. Recent leaks and scandals have proven that Romney is not only stinking rich, but is also a bigot who is constantly saying the wrong things.

Surely there must be another, more suitable job that Mitt could be applying for.

Luckily for him, there is such a job where applicants must:

• Have enormous personal wealth that you are willing to spend lavishly without concern

• Candidates must have bigoted, single minded and ridiculous opinions

• Finally, candidates must be willing to share these opinions with the world

The French have never liked their politicians, so the stupid(ly) rich spend their money on something else - they buy rugby clubs. 

If you think that recent Romney gaffes have been entertaining, then the horrendously wealthy and the stunningly entertaining French rugby administrators are in a league of their own.

In January of this year, Toulon suffered an unfortunate defeat to close rivals Clermont Auvergne. After the match, outspoken President Mourad Boudjellal had this to say:

"I had my first referee ring sodomy in the [2010] semi-final against Clermont. I've just had my second tonight".

"It appeared to hurt the first time but it was just as bad this time. We will review the images not on Youtube but on YouPorn. Clermont are a great team. They did not need it."

On Friday, Welsh scrum half Mike Phillips was indefinitely banned by his club Bayonne for a breach of club rules. Club president Alain Afflelou was not shy to publicly admonish his star player:

"This is unacceptable and not worthy of a professional player...He will not play again until further notice and we will also punish him financially. This is not the first time and we are sick of it. It's shameful...if they carry on behaving like spoiled children, they will no longer wear the shirt of this club."

Despite being "disgusted" by Phillips' behaviour, it was announced on Monday that Phillips' indefinite ban had been lifted already, belying the apparent severity of his crimes and his boss' comments.

There is no doubt about it, French rugby administrators are some of the most entertaining men in the world. When they are not pouring their money into huge signings, they are still making the headlines and with the Heineken Cup just a few weeks away and the future of the tournament still in jeopardy, expect the men with the large cheque books and even larger mouths to be dispensing their opinions to anyone with a dictaphone.