While the early starts of France's top two leagues at the end of August have been a constant talking point in the rugby world, it gives us all much greater relief that the 2016/17 rugby season has begun in earnest. And there are plenty of excellent tries already.
LNR have produced a compilation of tries from the first round of the PRO D2 (French 2nd division) season and the second of the Top 14.
The pick of the bunch from the Top 14 was certainly the performance of winger come full back, Gio Aplon. The South African scored a wonder zig zagging try in Grenoble's 22-19 defeat to La Rochelle. Aplon rounded five defenders to touch down.
Dan Carter's deft inside offload created a well-worked try for Juan Imhoff as Racing 92 bounced back from their round one defeat to Bordeaux as they overcame Lyon 29-16 in Colombes.
In PRO D2, scrum-half Arnaud Pic finished off a superb kick and chase try as Dax edged Aurillac by a solitary point (20-19). Pic surprised the Aurillac defence by finding an acre of space between the back and front-rows to streak clear.
Top 14 round two results:
Pau 18 - 22 Toulon | Grenoble 19 - 22 La Rochelle | Racing 92 29 - 16 Lyon | Bayonne 12 - 12 Castres | Brive 28 -20 Stade Français | Toulouse 22 -17 Bordeaux Bègles | Montpellier 22 - 26 Clermont Auvergne
PRO D2 round one results:
Perpignan 19 - 16 Mont-de-Marsan | Dax 20 - 19 Aurillac | Vannes 23 - 20 Montauban | Oyonnax 36 - 10 Angoulême | Albi 23 - 23 Caracassone | Bourgoin 19 - 18 Colomiers | Biarritz 25 - 6 Narbonne | Béziers 34 - 11 Agen
Enjoy the best of the tries from the Top 14 and PRO D2 in the video below:
Top 14
PRO D2