Last year the Dieux du Stade calendar sold merde loads. So it’s not hard to see why the producers have decided to repeat the formula. The concept is simple: get loads of fit, French, rugby players to get their kit off for the ladies. Luckily for us, some bright spark realised that British gay guys would be just as interested and shipped it over here!

The calendar was swiftly followed by a making of DVD, which allowed us to watch (or should that be ogle?) the hunks in 3D, with the added bonus that we might just catch a glimpse of their bits while preparing to shoot – sorry preparing for the shoot.

It’s hard to imagine England Rugby hotties Johnny Wilkinson and Ben Cohen stripping off and posing for a calendar, let alone a DVD – well, actually it’s very easy to imagine, but highly unlikely. Thankfully, the French rugby players aren’t anywhere near as shy, and have got their tackle out once more rather than just stick to tackling.

So, another year and there’s another selection of guys to gawp at. Actually maybe too many, as the scenes of guys posing in the altogether keep on coming. Not that we’re complaining, it’s just that there’s not enough variety in terms of location. [But who’s looking at the scenery? I couldn’t take my eyes off the naked men! Ed.]

Some scenes are set in a bar, with our beefy sportsmen manly posing on bar stools – a bar where, presumably, everybody knows your arse. Sensibly, they refrain from playing darts or pool, but sadly there doesn’t seem to be a barman in sight. If only they’d said, I’d have popped over to give them a handy shandy.

There are also plenty of scenes set on a beach. Correction, the same bit of beach. Unfortunately, we’re not told where it is; otherwise I’d be there like a shot. Mind you, you can’t help but worry about the sand and wonder about the crevices it must have got in to.

Fortunately, it’s not really the scenery we’re watching for – it’s the men, and there’s certainly something for everyone!

This year the rugby chums are joined by some ‘guests’, stunning guys from other worlds of sport. Rather sensibly the javelin throwers decide not to take part in any action shots with their equipment – any thought of spearing kept strictly to our own imagination. The footballers also leave their balls at home – presumably to prevent any sort of envious reaction from those with the funny-shaped ones.

There’s also some unintentional comedy to look out for. Watching the DVD I was inspired to take a new career path – I could definitely be a nude rugby ace make-up artist! All you need to be able to do is to dab their most intimate parts using a cotton-wool bud with a pair of tweezers, and be able to operate a plant water spray. The only skill that may take a bit of mastering is the feigning disinterested bit, which our Gallic powder puff girl seems to do unnaturally well.

Dieux du Stade it should be stressed isn’t porn – the power is more in suggestion and prodding your imagination, rather than our French chums prodding each other. But with such hunks on display, I’m sure the most unimaginative of viewers will find themselves breaking out a sweat, with or without a partner, and without a care what their balls are shaped like.

The Making Of The 2005 Calendar Dieux Du Stade 
ASIN: B0007GJ5Q2
Catalogue Number: 9824384

Want to watch the French rugby team in action with their friends? Then buy the Dieux du Stade DVD online and save some money to put towards the book about gay rugby player, Mark Bingham.