Toulon statement: Head coach Pierre Mignoni quits with immediate effect

Pierre Mignoni has stepped down from his role as Toulon head coach with immediate effect following a poor start to the Top 14 season which sees the side languishing in 13th place.

The three-time European champions have only won one of their opening five matches of the campaign, against newcomers and bottom-place Vannes, and suffered a 28-0 defeat to Montpellier on Sunday.

Franck Azéma, who arrived at the Stade Mayol over the summer as an assistant coach, will take over as head coach, assuming the role he held between 2021 and 2023.

Though their results have been damning so far this season, Toulon’s opening two defeats were by a solitary point, and their third loss was by only two points.

While they sit in 13th place, they are only two points adrift of eighth-place ASM Clermont-Auvergne, but a decision has been made to ensure a gap does not widen.

Fixture

Top 14

Toulon

07:35

10 Oct 26

Racing 92

All Stats and Data

A Toulon statement reads: “Pierre Mignoni informed the management of Toulon of his decision to end his mission as Director of Rugby, which the club accepted.

“This decision comes in the context of insufficient sporting results since the start of the season.

“Faced with this situation, Pierre Mignoni chose to fully assume his responsibilities. After exhausting all available resources, he determined that a change was now necessary to revitalize the professional team. With this decision, he hopes to enable the squad to quickly return to winning ways.

“Franck Azéma takes over responsibility for the professional group from today and will assume the sporting direction of the team until further notice.

“Toulon would like to thank Pierre Mignoni for his commitment and for all the work he has done since returning to the club in 2022.

“In particular, he contributed to the reconstruction and structuring of the sporting project, around the professional sector and the Toulon training program, during these last seasons.”