Top 14 2020/21 club-by-club season preview: Castres Olympique
Castres have waved the clearout wand and – in common with a number of Top 14 clubs – have started the process of refocusing on youth. There is still plenty of experience to count on… but how things work on the pitch remains to be seen.
Key signing
Uruguay scrum-half Santiago Arata, 23, heads to France with a growing reputation and the job of, eventually, taking over from marmite nine Rory Kockott… who is one of three vice-captains at the club this season. A mention, too, for Canada’s Tyler Ardron, who has quickly been handed a leadership role since joining from Chiefs.
Key departure
Rodrigo Capo Ortega: An excellent try on what turned out to be his last outing in the bleu-et-blanc was something to remember, but it was far from the farewell the 39-year-old deserved after 18 years and 400-and-some outings for the same club. ‘Capo’, one of 14 now-former players as Castres rapidly turn down the experience, is heading into an ambassadorial role.
https://twitter.com/CastresRugby/status/1296015823996420098
They say
“The group needed renewal. We chose to bet on players with very strong potential.”
Coach Mauricio Reggiardo – Midi Olympique
We say
It seemed there was plenty wrong at Castres last season. They lacked lustre on the pitch and looked shorn of anything approaching a plan.
Problems, problems
Not all of it can be laid at the door of the ageing playing squad – and some of it was a long-lingering hangover from the previous season, the last under Christophe Urios, which ended badly. To be fair, successor Reggiardo hasn’t tried to hide from his part in the problems that plagued the club in the early skirmishes.
“We started to rectify the situation from December,” Reggiardo told Midol recently. “We had finally found the right operation.
“Before that, I believe that we had not sufficiently respected and maintained certain values of this club. It reminded us that these values are never acquired, that they must be constantly maintained.”
‘Success’ in Europe
The Challenge Cup, unusually, offered a rare highlight in an otherwise thoroughly abject season. Castres qualified for the quarter-finals with a 33-27 win at Worcester in the final match of the group phase to finish top of Pool One.
They are due to head to Leicester in September, with an outside chance of stealing a place in next season’s Champions Cup – despite finishing 10th in the Top 14.
There is little doubt Castres’ playing pool was in desperate need of refreshing. The oldest of this summer’s signings – Ardron and Kunatani – are 29. Four of the nine new faces are 23 or younger. Meanwhile, only four of the 16 departures are under 30. Capo was nearly 40; Karena Wihongi was 40.
Are you local?
Captain Mathieu Babillot and vice-captain Baptiste Delaporte, meanwhile, are Castres born and bred. Prop Antoine Tichit and full-back Geoffrey Palis were born just up the road in Gaillac. Academy graduate Jeremy Fernandez is from nearby Mazamet. It all feeds into the ‘small town, big team’ underdog image the club loves to play up and play to.
More usefully, the squad now boasts more diverse skills in a range of positions, giving Reggiardo the ability to adapt the Castres style according to their opponents. Last season was, pretty much, a write-off. This season should see some strong consolidation. Word from the training ground is that this season should be better than the last.
One thing Castres must do – and urgently – is get to grips with their ongoing indiscretion issues. Giving away 20 penalties a game, as they did in their pre-season opener against Agen, isn’t going to cut it when the serious rugby starts.
Arrivals
Julius Nostadt, Gaetan Barlot, Tyler Ardron, Ryno Pieterse, Semi Kunatani, Stephane Onambele, Kevin Kornath, Santiago Arata, Adrea Cocagi, Vilimoni Botitu, Bastien Guillemin
Departures
Marc Clerc, Paea Fa’anunu, Tapu Falatea, Morgan Phelipponneau, Jody Jenneker, Paul Sauzeret, Rodrigo Capo Ortega, Christophe Samson, Victor Moreaux, Alex Tulou, Camille Gerondeau, Kevin Gimeno, Ludovic Radosavljevic, Robert Ebersohn, Julien Caminati, Taylor Paris
'To a man, they all talked very proudly about getting the s*** kicked out of them but serving it back with interest'
Russian Roulette, murder and who tore open Shelford's scrotum: @dberesford12 tells @OwainJTJones how France's hardest players opened up https://t.co/nFV9jO63Gc
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 19, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
South Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
23 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
23 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to comments