Focus on France: When the French coach Bernard Laporte recently criticised French club rugby while extolling the virtues of the English Premiership, his long-standing Toulouse counterpart, Guy Noves, wasn't shy about making a volcanic retort, in turn slating Laporte for his selection and methods. It's reckoned Noves is probably the only individual powerful enough in French rugby to get away with it.

Accordingly, it made not a whit of difference to the composition of the French team and squad for today's Six Nations championship opener against Ireland. The war of words may yet take up a few forests' worth of newsprint, but Laporte daren't engage in any vindictive response. So it is that six of France's starting line-up and one of the replacements come from Stade Toulousain.

That they backbone this French side is fitting, for they are the standard bearers, the supreme club in French rugby. They are the anti-Parisian pride of the south, the unofficial capital of the Occitanie region.

It makes them akin to Limerick and Munster rugby in an Irish context, or perhaps Gloucester, Bath or Leicester in England, but with one notable difference: Toulouse, the city and the club, have serious economic and political clout.

Given the city's population of 750,000, Toulouse are effectively the biggest club in French rugby (even Perpignan is only one-fifth the size), for unlike the nouveau riche boys at Stade Francais they represent a place where rugby is very much the number-one sport. French domestic champions nine times in the last 19 years, Stade Toulousain are of course, also the inaugural and reigning European champions. By comparison, the Toulouse soccer club is currently bottom of Ligue 1.

Toulouse is also a wealthy factory city, with sponsors queueing up to be associated with the city's most famous sporting brand-name. Peugeot, locally based, are the main sponsors, and Nike, Airbus and Eads (a computer company) are among others.

When the club redeveloped and expanded the Stade Ernest Wallon into a near-20,000-capacity stadium over a year ago, there was no need to advertise for prospective purchasers of the new corporate boxes. Such was the queue that the club sold the boxes by invitation only.

Most unusually also, the Stade Ernest Wallon is not municipally owned, like virtually all French clubs, but is owned by the club. Relative to, say, Munster, whose financial possibilities are barely tapped into, such economic independence and power is the stuff of dreams.

Doubtingly, you ask Trevor Brennan if Toulouse, given its bigger size, can be likened to Limerick in the extent to which players are part of the city's social fabric. "Exactly that extent," he stresses. "Any Toulouse player walking down any street will be stopped and asked for autographs, or what their thoughts were on the game, just like Munster people would do.

"It brought it home to me again last weekend when six of Paula's friends came over and we went down to the market. We were treated like royalty, free foie gras, and then wine to beat the band in the restaurant.

"There's a merchandising boutique in the centre of the city which is like a Man United shop. They can barely get seven or eight thousand fans into the soccer stadium, which holds 37,000, and our matches are nearly always a sell-out, certainly the big ones. Thousands of people would be hanging around after matches."

Brennan cites the French championship final last season, when Toulouse were beaten by Stade Francais in Paris thanks in large part to an unfair scheduling (a week after their European Cup final win in Lansdowne Road, Toulouse were compelled to play their semi-final against Agen in 45 degrees in Montpellier, whereas Stade Francais had played the night beforehand).

In any case, Stade Francais returned 15,000 of their 25,000 allocation for the final, which were in turn snapped up in Toulouse, whose supporters thereby outnumbered the Parisian supporters by four to one despite having to travel 600 kilometres.

It wasn't always thus. The dominant force in French rugby in the 1920s, Toulouse had won only won one more championship between then and the early 1980s, that win coming in 1947.

But it was in the 1980s that Pierre Villepreux became coach, with Jean-Claude Skrela as his assistant, and they were backed by the club's famous and visionary president of the time, Jean Fabre.

They kick-started a stunning new era for the club. In all respects, in their preparation for matches, in their structures, and most of all in what was effectively a full-time set-up, they actually became more professional than the French national team.

Needless to say, their modernity did not sit well with the French Federation, least of all when Stade Toulousain utilised the fortnight's Christmas break to organise what was a forerunner to the European Cup. They invited Bath and clubs from Romania, Australia and Fiji in 1986 and 1990, Stade's centenary year, for unsanctioned tournaments, which were a huge success.

Villepreux's visionary training methods led Toulouse to championships in 1985, 1986 and 1989, though he would remain ostracised, a prophet without honour in his own land, until guiding France to the World Cup final in 1999.

By then Noves, something of a firebrand winger in his playing days and a seemingly unlikely successor, had progressed from assistant coach in 1989 to head coach in 1992 and seamlessly continued the club's success. Stade Toulousain won four championships in a row from 1994 to 1997, adding further titles in 1999 and 2001, in addition to their two European crowns.

Needless to say, Stade Toulousain have the wherewithal to pay their players and coaches well. Yet Real Madrid comparisons sit more readily with Stade Francais, backed by the millions of radio entrepreneur Max Gauzzini and their infusion of foreign stars.

In the French media Stade Toulousain are likened more to AC Milan (even down to their predominantly red-and-black colours) with the cultivation of home-grown talent and the loyalty of one-club players an integral part of the club's profile.

Ever since the early 1980s, the club always placed a huge emphasis on the "education" of local players. "The club have their own centre of information," explains Brennan in wonderment. "They scout young fellas from 15 or 16 and put them through school and third-level courses. It's not just all based around rugby." The likes of Frederic Michalak and Clement Poitrenaud began playing mini-rugby with the club from six years of age, as have current French-squad members Yannick Bru and William Servat.

They buy in players too, but are not ostentatious about it. Where their rivals sign big names, Toulouse endeavour to realise untapped potential in the likes of Brennan and the Maka brothers, Finau and Isitolo. Ditto their domestic acquisitions. Fabien Pelous was a relative unknown until joining Toulouse; Jean-Baptiste Elissalde was brought from La Rochelle and converted into a scrumhalf by Noves; Vincent Clerc was acquired from Grenoble, then in the second division, two years ago.

All the above are now in the French squad, with all bar Bru in today's starting line-up. Any wonder, therefore, that Noves took offence to Laporte's remarks? Stade Toulousain are proud of their independent "boot-room" philosophy. Emile Ntamack has spent his entire career with Stade Toulousain. And Noves's assistants Serge Lairle and Philippe Rouge-Thomas are former players with the club.

In any other country, and in any other sport, Noves would have seemed a logical heir to the French job at some juncture. Yet it is hardly even countenanced.

There may well be lingering suspicions about all things Toulouse in the corridors of the French Federation. But just as pertinently, why would Noves be bothered? In the context of French rugby, it might almost be seen as a step down.

WILLIAM SERVAT (hooker)

He comes from a small village called St Gauders about 40 miles outside Toulouse and has been at Stade since joining the Cadets in 1994 but has never played representative rugby until today. Realising he has two quality hookers Guy Noves, clever coach that he is, has been alternating between William and Yannick Bru this season to keep them both happy.

He's very, very dynamic, very fast and a brilliant runner with the ball. In fact, when injuries hit our back row last season, William played six or seven games at number eight. He's also an absolutely salt-of-the-earth bloke, who'd do anything for you. There's not a bad bone in his body, he's a great laugh and he loves a sing-song.

He hadn't an inkling he was going to be in the shake-up until two or three weeks ago and I know from ringing him to wish him well a couple of nights ago that Bernard Laporte has told him to go out and play his normal game. He's only 25 and if he gets a run he could be the man for the 2007 World Cup.

YANNICK BRU (reserve hooker)

He's more of your typical hooker. He's got the little head of a hooker, he's very good in the tight and a very physical player. He wouldn't have had an awful lot of game time with France and he regards his World Cup as something of a failure. At 30 people were saying France should look more to the future but Yannick still has three or four good years in him. He came up through the ranks and has recently signed a new contract to keep him here until 2007.

He's had offers from Leicester and other clubs but he wouldn't be inclined to uproot his family. His wife gave birth to their first child last year and he's just built a new house. Yannick has been a very good friend of mine at Toulouse, doing an awful lot of translation for me, getting me a mobile phone, fixing my computer - things like that.

FABIEN PELOUS (lock and captain)

What can you say about Fabien? France's most-capped forward of all time, he leads from the front every time, stands up to anyone, is very hard and very physical, and puts his body on the line in every game. He was injured five weeks ago and has only played half a game in our last two matches, so with 80 minutes' rugby in five weeks from a match-fitness point of view he probably won't be at his best.

He's a very serious type of player, probably the most professional in the club. So when he turned up at training one day recently with a tattoo on his arm of a band with a star in it which represented winning the European Cup I was convinced it was a joke, a temporary one for the weekend, because it was so out of character. But every player agreed to do it after Freddy Michalak, naturally, came up with the idea.

Fabien has an aura about him. When he speaks everyone else shuts up and listens. It's hard to believe he's only 30 years old. He seems to have been around for ever.

JEAN-BAPTISTE ELISSALDE (scrumhalf)

He signed up the same time as I did, from La Rochelle in the second division, when he was playing outhalf and kicked points left, right and centre, and it was between Stade Francais and ourselves for his signature. He's taken over from Freddy in recent weeks as kicker, as Freddy hasn't really been on form with his kicking.

My greatest memory of him is when he came off the bench against Munster in the semi-final last year, swept the ball off the ground to put Michalak over for the try and then converted from the touchline.

He's a bit like Peter Stringer, a real dogged little scrumhalf who likes tackling the bigger men and great to get the back line moving. He can also switch to number 10 at any stage.

A neighbour of mine from the next village, Jean-Baptiste is another family man whose wife gave birth to their first child recently. His grandfather and his father, who is the coach at Beziers, both played for France.

FREDERIC MICHALAK (outhalf)

The pin-up boy of French rugby and a great bloke. He's been in Toulouse since day one. He had a tough upbringing, his parents split up when he was young and he took up boxing and kick-boxing at 11. At 18, when Toulouse won the French Championship in 2001, himself and Clement Poitrenaud were brought into the team because of injuries around semi-final time and in the final he kicked something like 27 points to win the game. He was then drafted into the French side that summer.

He is to French rugby what Jonny Wilkinson is to English rugby or Brian O'Driscoll to Irish rugby. He is the face of Nike around here and there are billboards of Freddy everywhere. He's a real off-the-cuff player. When he's on form he's brilliant, and you just don't know what he's going to do next. You'd always get a laugh out of Freddy. I've never seen the guy in bad form and even when coaches are tearing strips off him he still has that cheeky smile on his face.

YANNICK JAUZION (inside centre)

He'd be the quiet guy in the squad; he wouldn't say boo to anyone. Yannick is the sort of fella who's always be in the background, and yet you'd know he was there. He's a bit like Girvan Dempsey and even has the same nickname, Mad Dog. As a player he's very, very quick and at 6ft 4ins and 105 kilos has a mature physical presence about him - a bit like Shane Horgan, but maybe a bit blockier.

VINCENT CLERC (winger)

A Grenoble kid, who came to Toulouse in 2001 and broke into the French team last year. He was left out of the World Cup - a bit of a setback for him - and is getting his second chance, as he calls it, now. He seems to have done an awful lot of work over the summer on his strength and his speed. He's a bit cleverer and more experienced than he was first time around.

Vincent is a real match winner for us but can need a bit of psyching up. But he's a man possessed once you can get that out of him.