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Top 14 club-by-club 2020/21 season preview: Montpellier
Montpellier finished eighth in the Top 14 in their first season under Xavier Garbajosa. He’s cleared out a lot of talent to make way for a younger squad – but how will his difficult second season play out?
Key signing
Cobus Reinach. With Ruan Pienaar gone, Montpellier needed a new nine. The South African will feel right at home alongside Handre Pollard, Bismarck and Jacques du Plessis, Henry Immelman and Jan Serfontein. A nod, too, to Vincent Rattez, who is reunited for former La Rochelle boss Garbajosa.
Key departure
Nemani Nadolo. The Fijian winger is the biggest name – ahead, just, of Jim Nagusa – among the 14 to leave the GGL. Leicester have themselves an instant crowd favourite.
They say
“We had a slightly ageing squad, it was important to rejuvenate it. And then this season with the French internationals, we lacked depth … we recruited 70% French players and we hope to give some playing time to all these youngsters with high potential.” Sporting director Philippe Saint-Andre (France 3)
We say
Montpellier have a problem. It’s not the stumbling first season of head coach Xavier Garbajosa. He’s trying to retro-fit sexy rugby back into the club’s engineering. That was always going to take time, as it did for his former La Rochelle compadre Patrice Collazo, now at Toulon.
Sexy rugby returns
Garbajosa’s difficult first season – complete with eighth-place finish – is done. After an adjustment campaign with an inherited team, he has the chance, with the support of new director of sport Philippe Saint-Andre, to reshape the squad in his image.
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Important to note, it’s more French. Seven of the club’s senior squad 10 recruits are French, as are five of the six new Espoirs (academy) squad.
Nor is the problem the number of players – notably Anthony Bouthier, Yacouba Camara, Gabriel N’Gandebe, Arthur Vincent and Paul Willemse – likely to be on France duty for large portions of the new season.
The summer recruitment and retention programme largely covered positional gaps international call-ups will create.
Montpellier’s European rugby problem
The problem, in fact, is out of Montpellier’s hands. And it’s a European one.
An eighth place Top 14 finish usually means Challenge Cup rugby the following season. This time it still might not. If the Champions Cup is reformatted in the 2020-21 season to an eight-pool 24-team competition, as has been suggested, Montpellier hold the final French place so could end up playing Champions Cup rugby, after all. Unless, that is, Castres Olympique, who finished 10th in the Top 14’s coronavirus-curtailed campaign, lift the Challenge Cup in October. Then Montpellier would have to give up that last extended Champions Cup slot.
Chances are Montpellier would qualify for a one-off expanded Champions Cup competition. Castres face a quarter-final trip to Leicester, where new coach Steve Borthwick will be out to make an instant impression with a new squad of his own.
TOP14: @jamesonrugby on Toulon
Key signing ??
Key departure ?
They say ??
We say ?https://t.co/S1FIi0u52M— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 5, 2020
Style and strength
But, until Castres are out of Europe, Garbajosa cannot plan fully for a season which starts long before he knows who his European opponents – in a currently unknown European competition – will be.
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For all that uncertainty, expect to see rather less boom-boom rugby from Montpellier. This squad promises style as well as strength.
Arrivals: Enzo Forletta; Titi Lamositele; Yannick Arroyo; Florian Verhaeghe; Mickael Capelli; Alexandre Becognee; Cobus Reinach; Vincent Rattez; Alex Lozowski; Julien Tisseron
Departures: Johannes Jonker; Konstantine Mikautadze; Julien Bardy; Lucas de Coninck; Kevin Kornath; Kahn Fotuali’i; Enzo Sanga; Francois Steyn; Nemani Nadolo; Timoci Nagusa; Benjamin Fall
Comments on RugbyPass
I’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.
4 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.
6 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…??? 🤑🤑🤑
8 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
8 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?
2 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 commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
4 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to comments