LONG READ 'Take a bow Paul Gustard, the Englishman who has masterminded the astonishing resurrection of Stade Français'

A tradition has become established in French rugby in recent years. Before the start of every Top 14 season, the head coach of each club is asked for his prediction for the year ahead: who will be champions, who will be runners-up, who will contest the play-offs, who will be relegated and who will finish 13th and slug it out with the ProD2 champions in what is known as the ‘barrage d’accession’.

Some of the forecasts were spot on last August. Thirteen coaches, for example, predicted that newly-promoted Montauban would go straight down, and so they have, amassing a dismal total of seven points this season.

Nine coaches believed Toulouse would win a fourth consecutive Bouclier de Brennus, and they’re certainly in the driving seat to do that, having secured top place in the regular season by beating Lyon on Saturday.

The club that has taken most by surprise is Stade Français. The Parisians finished 12th last season, a campaign that was characterised by chaos and uncertainty. Most of the coaches expected more of the same this season.

No-one had them down as possible champions or runners-up, and only one coach believed Stade would finish in the top six and contest the play-offs.

Six coaches reckoned Stade Français would finish 13th and be forced to play the ProD2 runners-up for the right to stay in the Top 14.

On Saturday, Stade beat Bayonne 38-21 in a bonus-point win that guaranteed them a place in the play-offs; they could finish second if they win their last game of the regular season at La Rochelle on Saturday and Montpellier lose at Lyon.

So take a bow, Paul Gustard, the 50-year-old Englishman who has masterminded the astonishing resurrection this season of Stade Français. He has got a trio of switched-on side-kicks, former players who have been there and done it in the Top 14: Perry Freshwater as his forwards’ coach; Morgan Parra as attack coach and Rory Kockott as the man in charge of defence.

All ex-internationals, the three of them also won the Top 14 title as players (Kockott with Castres, Freshwater with Perpignan and Parra with Clermont). That’s some experience on which to draw.

Not forgetting that Gustard has been round the block a few times himself. Stade’s head coach won Premiership titles with Leicester at the turn of the Millennium (Freshwater was a team-mate) and he also played in the Tigers side that beat Stade Français to win the 2001 Champions Cup.

Gustard ended his playing career with Saracens in 2008, and then moved into coaching with the club, spending several years as their defence coach. He fulfilled the same role with England under Eddie Jones from 2016 to 2018, the most successful period in recent English history. In 2016 England won their first Grand Slam since 2003 and they then went to Australia and whitewashed the Wallabies 3-0, the first time they had won a series Down Under.

Gustard was lured from England by Harlequins in 2018 but his three-year stint as head coach ended in ignominy when he left by “mutual consent” in January 2021. According to media reports, Gustard’s “emphasis on discipline and organisation grated with the side”. Four months later Quins were crowned champions of the Premiership after beating Exeter in a thrilling final. In the six years since, Harlequins have got progressively worse and they are on course to finish second from bottom this season.

Perhaps Gustard wasn’t the problem but rather a group of Quins players who resented being asked to leave their comfort zone.

Stade Français approached Gustard in 2022 (when he was coaching at Benetton Treviso) and brought him to Paris as their defence coach. In managerial terms, Stade Français are to the Top 14 what Chelsea are to the Premier League. Since 2000, the Parisians have worked their way through 16 head coaches; in the same period Toulouse have had two.

Things got particularly ugly during the 2024-25 season. Head coach Karim Ghezal was sacked a few weeks into the season and then Laurent Labit, the director of rugby, left in March 2025.

Labit subsequently settled a few scores in the media. He said that the club’s owner, Hans-Peter Wild, “doesn’t know his club very well” and criticised the management of the club, saying “it is very difficult to work without structure or discipline.”

There were rumours to the effect that Gustard wanted out, and that Leicester were waving a job offer his way. Wild declared he would fight to keep Gustard in Paris. “He’s a brilliant manager, my favourite,” said the Stade owner. “The players would be very disappointed (if he left)…he gets on well with everyone.”

A report earlier this year in Midi Olympique said that Gustard’s ‘keywords’ in the Stade Français dressing room this season are “humility” and “discretion”. In other words, leave your egos in the car park.

Gustard had a dysfunctional club on his hands in March 2025, and his priority was to remain in the Top 14, which Stade did, just, emerging battered and bruised from a relegation dogfight with Perpignan and Vannes.

So it wasn’t really a surprise that when this season began few had Stade Français down as title contenders.

Gustard hadn’t done much shopping in the transfer market during the summer. Of the four players drafted in, the most eye-catching was Tawera Kerr-Barlow, the 35-year-old former All Blacks scrum-half, who arrived after eight years at La Rochelle.

Another acquisition was Tani Vili, the 25-year-old French centre who came to the capital via Clermont, Bordeaux and Vannes.

In the win against Bayonne at the weekend, Vili started in the No.6 shirt, the first time he has played in the back row. He marked his loose forward debut with a try.

A report earlier this year in Midi Olympique said that Gustard’s ‘keywords’ in the Stade Français dressing room this season are “humility” and “discretion”. In other words, leave your egos in the car park.

Stade play like a team that enjoy each other’s company. There are no big stars in the side, but they are cohesive, efficient and very well organised. They also have arguably the best scrum in France, built around the power of its pool of props, which includes the Alo-Emile brothers (Paul and Moses), the two Georgians Giorgi Melikidze and Sergo Abramishvili, and the American Jack Iscaro.

If Stade Français have flown under the radar for much of this season, the same can be said for Gustard. He is that rare breed in France: an English head coach doing well. Dean Richards, Mike Ford, Richard Cockerill, Rory Teague and Stuart Lancaster can testify to the challenges of flourishing in France.

Yet despite his achievements with Saracens, England and now Stade Français, few regard Gustard as among the coaching elite – not even in his own country. Earlier this year, RugbyPass produced a list of 11 possible candidates to succeed Steve Borthwick in the event he parted company with the RFU. Among those name-checked were Scott Robertson, Michael Cheika, Jake White, Ronan O’Gara, Rob Baxter and Phil Dowson.

Why was Gustard overlooked? He has youth on his side compared to some of those names, and more international experience than others.

Who knows, if Gustard hadn’t swapped the England set-up for Harlequins in 2018, he might have replaced Eddie Jones in 2022. Stade Français are glad he left when he did.