No new Halfpenny contract insist Toulon

Halfpenny did not play in the Top 14 Final Toulon lost to Clermont because he was in New Zealand with the British and Irish Lions.

The absence of a key, goal-kicking player made an impact on Mourad Boudjellal's decision not to renew the Welshman's contract, which runs out this off-season and which the club had previously expressed strong desires to extend.

"The problem is the international rules," Boudjellal told AFP.

"Halfpenny is not here for nothing, it's what was forseen in his contract. We weren't duped."

Halfpenny arrived at Toulon in 2014 and was a member of the team that won the European Cup the following year.

Agence France-Presse