All Black to take legal action after Pau sacking

NEWS: New Zealand flyhalf Tom Taylor will take Pau to an employment tribunal after his sacking by the French club in June, sources told AFP on Thursday.

Taylor, 31, who won the last of his three All Blacks caps in 2013, was fired by the Top 14 outfit for leaving France “without any prior authorisation from his employer even though all players were asked to remain available to the club and to comply with government measures in the fight against COVID-19”.

The former Crusaders playmaker, who has now joined Japan’s Toshiba Brave Lupus after four campaigns at the Pyrenees side, has appointed a legal firm to represent him at the hearing on October 1.

According to newspaper L’Equipe, Taylor is claiming around 1 million euros ($1.18 million) in salary loss which include image rights for his contract that was to run until June 2022.

Pau president Bernard Pontneau refused to comment.