Top 14 club-by-club 2020/21 season preview: Racing 92
Racing 92 head into the new Top 14 season with a mostly made in France squad that glitters with just a few overseas stars – but what stars…
Key signing
Kurtley Beale has been the one truly big Top 14 signing for next season. Fullback, centre, fly-half, he offers huge value for money at his reported salary of €400,000 a year.
Key departure
Brice Dulin. The two-time Top 14 winner is a casualty of the salary cap – and a big part of the reason for the multi-talented Beale’s arrival. He heads to La Rochelle, while prop Ben Tameifuna has also gone – this time to beef up already formidable front-row options at Bordeaux.
They say
“It’s always difficult to say how you see a season. What is important is to prepare in the right way so that we’re in the best possible place. It’s up to us to do the right things. We are only dependent on ourselves – we must prepare accordingly in relation to what awaits us in the calendar” (Laurent Travers, actu.fr)
We say
It’s actually not that difficult to say how you see a season. Racing have a terrifying squad for 2020/21. The usual ‘if they can gel’ question hardly applies, as most of them have been playing together for a few years – they’ve already gelled. In Travers, Mike Prendergast, and Patricio Noreiga they have some of the smartest rugby brains around.
That playing talent, those coaching brains. It’s a powerful combination.
Desperate start
Last season threatened to go very wrong very quickly for Racing 92. One win, three defeats and a draw in their first five home games – including a season-opening loss to promoted Bayonne – left them second-from-bottom after eight rounds of the campaign.
Blooding young players
Then, 11 players who were at the World Cup returned. Racing have never used the World Cup as an excuse for their poor start – they said it gave them an important chance to blood new, young players.
Nor were they losing games by much – in some cases it was by the skin of the bounce of a ball. But that sort of thing doesn’t show on league tables, unless you look closely. Their points difference after eight games was +7. At the same time, Stade Francais, one place below at the foot of the league, had a points difference -133.
Regardless, Racing’s coaches were not overly concerned. With good reason.
After the 17th round – which turned out to be the last of the Top 14 season – Racing had roared up to third. Their points difference was +125. (Stade’s, for the record, had also stabilised somewhat, at -160). Racing won seven of their last nine Top 14 games, and four of six Champions Cup games to top a pool containing Saracens, Munster and Ospreys.
Then Covid-19 stopped everything.
Game on. https://t.co/26Sebj0qyk
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 4, 2020
Racing 92 – a side ‘Made in France’ … mostly
Like Toulouse, Racing have been relatively circumspect in the transfer market. But their few forays into the player pool have been rather more spectacular. Luke Jones, from Bordeaux via four outings at Melbourne, is a smart signing, while Kurtley Beale is the biggest name to move to France next season.
Despite those overseas signings, Racing are leading a mad charge among French clubs to ‘Made In France’ status. Next season, just eight players in their senior squad will not have JIFF status – new signings Jones and Beale, and Finn Russell, Simon Zebo, Dominic Bird, Donnacha Ryan, Juan Imhoff and Antonie Claassen.
Une belle séquence des Ciel et Blanc et c'est l'ailier argentin Juan Imhoff qui inscrit l'essai ?
Quel est votre pronostic pour le quart de finale franco-français entre l'@ASMOfficiel et le @racing92 ? ? pic.twitter.com/tpPWu3TaAZ
— Investec Champions Cup France (@ChampionsCup_FR) August 2, 2020
Racing could pick a matchday squad with a backline including Iribaren, Russell, Beale, Zebo, Imhoff and Virimi Vakatawa behind a powerful – and mobile – pack that could feature Jordan Joseph, Yoan Tanga Mangene, Camille Chat, Boris Palu and Wenceslas Lauret.
That’s a prospect to plague the dreams of defence coaches anywhere.
Arrivals
Luke Jones; Kurtley Beale; Donovan Taofifenua
Departures
Vasil Kakovin; Ben Tameifuna; Issam Hamel; Ewan Johnson; Johnny Dyer; Ben Volavola; Brice Dulin
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments