WHEN pursuing excellence, the French rarely search beyond their borders. Among the country’s top firms, listed in the CAC 40, only three have foreign bosses, and one of them—Carlos Ghosn at Renault—has taken French nationality. France would not think of looking overseas for a candidate to run its monetary policy, as Britain did when it chose Mark Carney, a Canadian, to head the Bank of England. Polls show the French are even more hostile to globalisation and open markets than either the Russians or the Chinese.
But in one area of national life they have been tearing down borders—rugby. Mighty Toulon has 25 foreign players in its squad of 49. Jonny Wilkinson, an English rugby icon, played there for five years. Today it boasts stars such as Leigh Halfpenny (a Welshman), Matt Giteau (an Australian) and Bryan Habana (a South African). Toulouse is home to Luke McAllister (from New Zealand) and Toby Flood (an Englishman). Even Brive, a club in the deeply rural Corrèze region, has six Fijian players and five South Africans.
The results are great. Toulon has won the European rugby…