Quesada set to take over Stade from Meyer
Who’d be a Top 14 coach? French domestic rugby took a break for the start of the World Cup, but more than one club manager could take little or no time off to enjoy the spectacle in Japan.
The coaches having a fortnight of long days and sleepless nights are somewhat unexpected. Heading into this fifth weekend, slots 10 to 13 in the table were occupied by, respectively, the 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2015 champions.
The pressure of coaching responsibility weighs most heavily on Stade Francais’ Heyneke Meyer. France’s twice-weekly rugby paper Midi
Olympique reported this week he may be shown the door, if his side lose at home to Clermont this evening. Former coach Gonzalo Quesada – who led the club to surprise Top 14 glory in 2015 and who is currently in Japan with Argentina – is top of the shortlist to take over.
After an initial spike in confidence when Capri-Sun king Hans-Peter Wild bought Stade towards the end of the 2016/2017 season, the lustre has left le club en rose.
A flurry of contract extensions were announced, as Dr Wild promised to build a French-heavy player pool – and also proved willing to dig deep into his near-bottomless pockets to attract new blood. He reportedly paid €750,000 to stop Yoann Maestri heading to La Rochelle, and is said to have forked out a similar sum to free Gael Fickou from his final year at Toulouse.
But a total 26 players – including several who were mid-deal – were purged at the end of the 2017/18 season. Their replacements have not lived up to expensively assembled expectation. Another 19, including Sergio Parisse, departed in the recent inter-season, as did coaches Mike Prendegast and Paul O’Connell, victims of a miserable 2018/19 campaign that lacked direction.
Stade head into this evening’s mustwin match provisionally bottom of the table, after Brive beat Toulon 39-17 in yesterday afternoon’s opener. The Correze side proved once again they are no pushovers on home soil – something Clermont, who were well beaten at Amadee Domenech, will testify.
Toulon’s Patrice Collazo at least could enjoy part of the free week, after his side had held on to win at home against Racing 92 in the previous round. But any early confidence, any warm feeling of a job starting to be done better was shortlived, as Brive touched down after just one minute.
Despite missing out on Champions Club rugby this season – and despite an unconvincing start to this campaign, Mourad Boudjellal is so certain Collazo is the coach to take the 2014 champions into a new academy alumni-led future that he said last season he was prepared ‘to go to the ProD2 with him’.
Other clubs are more likely to be involved in the end-of-season relegation dogfight, but Toulon’s initial crop of young guns have now lost three of five outings. It’s early in the season, but right now a concerted assault on the top six looks optimistic.
Ronan O Gara’s La Rochelle should have won back-to-back matches for the first time this season, after Bayonne’s old man of the scrum Census Johnston was sent off late in the first half for a dangerous tackle.
But Yannick Bru’s Bayonne hadn’t read the script and dug deep to win 2322. It would have been a larger winning margin but for a converted Arthur Retiere try five minutes from time.
Castres’ Mauricio Reggiardo was another coach to endure a long, dark teatime of the blank week soul. He told reporters, “I am responsible” after the 2018 champions’ miserable performance in defeat at Bayonne last time out.
He will sleep a little easier, despite neverending defensive frailties, after his confidence-lacking side ended a three-match losing streak with a 30-27 win over his former club Agen, who had started the weekend three places higher in the table.
Life has hardly been sweet for Ugo Mola, coach of defending champions Toulouse, who were 12th when they kicked off against third-placed Pau. But things went wrong early for Pau, who lost Benson Stanley to injury in the opening moments, and they went into the break 18-9 behind. It was just enough for Toulouse, who survived to win a tense encounter 24-23.
Despite losing three of their first four games, there’s genuinely little for Toulouse to worry about. Their young side, far more developed than Toulon’s, is starting to gel. They will win far more than they will lose this season.
Laurent Travers, who took sole charge of Racing 92 at the start of the season when his other coaching half, Laurent Labit, ended an 18-year relationship for a new-model job with France.
It’s taking a little adjustment, this single head coach’s life. The bluebloods from the gates of Paris headed into Saturday’s late kick-off at home to table-topping Lyon on the back of two defeats in a row.
There are more nightmares in store for Travers, after visitors Lyon maintained their near-perfect record with a 20-31 win that consigned Racing to their second home defeat of the season.
Tighthead Cedate Gomes Sa, who was widely tipped to be called up to the France side as a replacement for the injured Demba Bamba, will want this match to be a dress rehearsalnightmare as he struggled against Lyon's Hamza Kaabèche until he was replaced - possibly tellingly - after 48 minutes.
The weekend’s most intriguing match is today’s lunchtime clash of fourth versus second. Hosts Montpellier have rediscovered the art of unpicking defences rather than running through them. They were well beaten in their most recent outing at Agen but have picked up bonus-point victories in their last six matches at home dating back to last season, while a vital and impressive Bordeaux are unbeaten this campaign.
“Quesada, who is currently in Japan with Argentina is top of the shortlist to take over Stade”