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Meyer to bring in two former Springboks and give under-fire Stade a lift
Heyneke Meyer is going back to his native South Africa to bolster State Francais ahead of the 2019/20 Top 14 season. The Parisian club, who struggled for consistency during Meyer’s first campaign, has been undergoing a huge overhaul since last season ended.
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Meyer’s latest changes, according to RugbyRama, see the arrival of South African internationals Ruan Combrinck, who has signed up for two years, and Lionel Mapoe, as a World Cup joker.
Last capped in 2016, 29-year-old Combrinck has played in recent seasons for the Lions in Super Rugby and in Japan’s second division.
Thirty-year-old Mapoe, whose last Springboks cap came against Argentina in Mendoza in August 2018, also comes from the Lions and could potentially extend his short term contract in Paris is he impresses during the World Cup window.
Combrinck and Mapoe join up with a clatter of other new Meyer signings, a list including Pablo Matera, Sefanaia Naivalu, James Hall, Loic Godener, Joris Segonds, Pierre-Henry Azagoh, Quentin Béthune, Thierry Feuteu, Chris Mavinga and Christopher Vaotoa.
? Heyneke Meyer « On apprend toujours beaucoup d’une première saison. Maintenant nous nous connaissons mieux. Cette année nous avons un très bon mélange de joueurs expérimentés et de jeunes joueurs. À nous de mener ce groupe vers les sommets » #SFParis pic.twitter.com/Pnc0LQ5fIs
— Stade Français Paris (@SFParisRugby) July 10, 2019
Stade have also announced that former hooker Laurent Sempere is joining Meyer’s coaching staff at the age of just 33.
The club will hope these new additions can help offset a stream of negative headlines surrounding the club in recent months.
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They are allegedly facing court action in September from a number of former players who feel cheated due to non-payment from their company savings plan.
Sad it came this in Paris ?https://t.co/vEqvL9Qptb
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 29, 2019
The Hans-Pieter Wild-owned club have failed to qualify for the Top 14 play-offs for four consecutive seasons, have reputedly recorded an operating deficit of €35million over the course of the past two years, and a series of internal wrangling has led to the messy departures of some high profile people.
That list includes ousted coach Julien Dupuy, Bordeaux-bound Alexandre Flanquart, Bayonne signing Djibril Camara and long-serving talisman Sergio Parisse.
Meyer also lost the services of his two Irish assistants for next season after Mike Prendergast took up a role at cross-city rivals Racing 92 and Paul O’Connell opted against taking up the second year of his contract.
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WATCH: Episode three of the RugbyPass Rugby Explorer series sees Jim Hamilton take a trek through South African rugby
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