French club rip up script as 'Nissa' sign 20 players in massive overhaul

A full club rebrand, a major squad overhaul and an entirely new backroom staff – all with one aim: getting Nissa Rugby promoted back to the Pro D2.

Formerly known as Nice, the French Riviera outfit has hit the reset button, rebuilding from top to bottom with ambitions of climbing to the Top 14 and establishing themselves as the latest French rugby heavyweight.

After a disappointing Pro D2 campaign, Nissa set about recruiting aggressively. Club president Jean-Baptiste Aldigé, the former Biarritz Olympique owner, brought in 20 new players, from Test star Waisea Nayacalevu to Bayonne’s points record-holder, Guillaume Rouet.

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The full list of arrivals:

Farai Mudariki (prop, Zimbabwe/Nevers), Hayden Thompson-Stringer (prop, England/Provence), Vazha Kapanadze (prop, Georgia/Bourg-en-Bresse), Pat Leafa (hooker, New Zealand/Vannes), Rayne Barka (hooker, France/SAXV), Josh Tyrell (utility forward, Samoa/Provence), Adrian Motoc (lock, Romania/Biarritz), Christiaan van der Merwe (lock, South Africa/Vannes), Bilel Taieb (back row, France/Provence), Masivesi Dakuwaqa (back row, Fiji/Biarritz), Enzo Labadie (back row, France/Anglet), Guillaume Rouet (scrum-half, Spain/Bayonne), Owen Williams (fly-half, Wales/Ospreys), Massimo Ortolan (fly-half, France/SAXV), Waisea Nayacalevu (centre, Fiji/Ospreys), Jean-Pascal Barraque (centre, France/Perpignan), Atila Septar (centre, Romania/Provence), Arthur Duhau (wing, France/free agent), Inoke Nalaga (wing, Fiji/Agen) and Clément Egiziano (outside back, France/Carcassonne).

Alongside the recruitment drive, Nissa also secured former Fiji head coach Gareth Baber, who will work with sporting director Matthew Clarkin.

The scale of the rebuild is stark: 27 players left the club at the end of last season, giving Aldigé licence to shape the squad in his own image.

The Nationale kicked off this weekend and runs until May, with the champions going up automatically to the Pro D2 and the runners-up given a final play-off shot at promotion.

For Nissa Rugby’s opening Nationale fixture – a 42-6 thumping of Tarbes – Rouet, Williams, Egiziano, Barraque and Duhau all started with Barka, Kapanadze, Dakuwaqa and Septar named among the replacements.

Fiji star Nayacalevu, Motoc, Nalaga, Thompson-Stringer and Mudariki are still unavailable.