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Clermont sack Jonno Gibbes mid-season
ASM Clermont Auvergne have taken the decision to sack head coach Jonno Gibbes mid-season, it has been confirmed.
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Club president Jean-Michel Guillon made the decision after what’s been a poor season for the one-time giants of French rugby.
The New Zealander joined the club after departing his position as La Rochelle director of rugby in 2021, his role going to Ronan O’Gara. However results have not gone the way that Clermont were expecting.
In the Heineken Champions Cup, they have lost two of their three games, the most recent being Friday’s 44-29 home defeat against Leicester Tigers. They presently hold the tenth spot in the Top 14 with only six victories from fifteen games.
A statement from the club reads: “Faced with recurring difficulties in terms of the game played and the club’s ranking in the TOP 14 and in the Champions Cup, the President of ASM took the decision to put an end to the functions of Jono Gibbes at the head of the team. This choice of change is part of a context where the ambitions still displayed by the club require to take new directions.
“This decision is effective immediately, which implies that Jono Gibbes will not be traveling to South Africa for next Saturday’s game against the Stormers. The current members of the sports staff will be responsible for managing this week of preparation.
“As far as the future is concerned, decisions will be announced quickly in order to ensure the continuity of the sports project, and to restore a positive dynamic to the whole club, its partners and its supporters.”
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Speaking at a press conference following the news, Guillon described it as the most difficult decision he’d ever made.
“We are at an important moment in the history of the club. Jono was a personal trainer for me. He was the first person I went to look for in La Rochelle and beyond the connection that there can be between a trainer and a president, there was between us a relationship of men and trust.
“I’ve had a fairly full professional life, it’s probably the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in my career! It is not just the sidelining of his coaching duties, it is also a personal relationship that must be taken into account.”
Guillon says that a turnaround in results was needed in December, but ultimately more losses put pay to Gibbes staying on in the role.
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“In our press release we were quite clear and we had been quite clear with Jono when we established, together, the club’s ambitions for this year and the following ones.
“We could not be satisfied with being like the previous year in the middle of the table, this poses a certain number of requirements for everyone, for the players, for the coach and also for the president. This ambition being posed, we do not find in December with Jono by saying that the month of December will be key!”
“Very clearly, together we are targeting a certain number of matches, Brive Toulouse… From there, we discuss with Jono in complete confidence with the desire to see a “before and after” because our performance is at what we want. The matches that followed: Perpignan and Leicester did not bring us the desired answers.
“I take responsibility for the decision I made to remove responsibility for the team from Jono Gibbes because I assumed that our ability to react could not be done in the short time we have left to react. One can always wonder whether it is fair or unfair.
“At this level it is often the coach who is at the center of discussions. I can tell you that I saw the players this morning and the message I sent was that everyone at the club must question themselves. This questioning, I live it myself every day and I am ready to assume it according to the ambitions that I displayed at the start of the season. But the staff and the players must also question themselves and assume their responsibilities, starting this week in Cape Town.”
Former British & Irish Lions fullback Jared Payne will takeover as interim head coach as they club look for their next head coach.
“Jared Payne will be the head coach for this game. That said, we want, in the coming days, to be able to present the new coach of ASM Clermont Auvergne. I am not in front of you with a name, Jono deserves better than that for everything he has brought to the club since his arrival.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments