Sacre bleu! Tommo is off to teach the French rugby

England's crocked World Cup-winning hooker is to join former European champions Brive as a coach-cum-consultant in mid-September, which gives him eight weeks to satisfy the language clause in his deal.

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He said: "Part of the contract is that I learn French. The great thing about rugby is that it has given me another opportunity and I really want to buy into the culture out there."

Thompson had been on the verge of joining Brive, the only French club outside Toulouse to have won the Heineken Cup, from Northampton last January, barely a fortnight before the Saint admitted a neck injury could bring his career to a sudden end at the age of 28.

Two months later they had their worst fears confirmed — the local boy known as "Wally" could not play again for fear of ending up in a wheelchair.

While Thompson gets to grip with the French language instead of their international players, another England player who will not be going to the World Cup suffered another nasty surprise yesterday.

Gloucester full back Olly Morgan was still coming to the terms with the "shock" of failing to make the first cut in the squad when he learned that his international cap and kit had been stolen from his home in Cheltenham.

European champions Wasps are planning to switch their home Heineken Cup tie against Munster in November from Adams Park to Twickenham with the aim of quadrupling the crowd to 40,000.

The RFU, without any home internationals this autumn because of the World Cup, will be happy to welcome Wasps back to a stadium where they have won eight cup finals in seven seasons.

Tony Copsey, the club's new chief executive who joins from Harlequins next month, sees the Munster tie as crucial to Wasps' renewed quest for a wider audience after a season when their Premiership gates at High Wycombe averaged just under 8,500.

He said: "We have to look at taking Munster to Twickenham. If we can do a deal with the RFU then it's very likely to happen."

All Blacks' head coach Graham Henry has named his "best team" for Saturday's Tri-Nations' decider against Australia which means no place for Leicester-bound Aaron Mauger.

Byron Kelleher, Jerry Collins and Anton Oliver return for Pirri Weepu, Reuben Thorne and Keven Mealamu respectively but Mauger has lost his position at inside centre to Sale's prospective new signing, Luke McAlister.

The Wallabies have rushed Chris Latham back on to the bench after one full club match since undergoing knee surgery.

Head coach John Connolly said: "I don't think it's a risk. The doctor's given the thumbs-up so now it's just a case of Chris getting his footy skills up to speed. He has always delivered for Australia."