The club was expecting to play in the Lord Derby Cup, partly to maintain links with the other LER clubs, as well as much needed match practice. But LER clubs were unhappy, I believe because the club did not enter a team in the LER this year, and objected, so the French Federation did not invite TO this year. It is possible that TO will have an LER side next next year, as the TO Junior team have been having an exzceptional season in the Elite Junior competition, only the talented Carpentras Juniors having beaten them. But many of the lads in this team will be a year older.
I am doing a weekly Championship summary on the TO website, to explain The Championship etc to French fans, which started last week.
Of course the disadvantage for TO is clearly lack of match practice. The training regimes have been physically tough but there is no substitute for serious match practice. The match against a Tarn Selection next weekend at Albi is about promoting the venture in the broader area, the Tarn being a hotbed of amateur RL, and to bring fans there into the broader family in the same way that the Dragons have fans from a wide area.