the essential
Less than a week before the resumption of training, US Montauban is strengthening with the signing for two seasons of 3rd line center Sikhumbuzo Notshe, a South African international from the Durban Sharks and Argentinian pillar Facundo Pomponio. The new Sapiac coach Sébastien Tillous-Borde also brought in his luggage the South African center John Thomas Jackson and the winger Paul Vallée whom he coached this season in Rouen.
New head coach of the USM, Sébastien Tillous-Borde, former coach of Rouen in Pro D2, relegated to the National, has drawn from the source of the Upper Normandy club something to do his shopping for the season ahead. After the signing of fullback Baptiste Mouchous, two other RNR players signed a two-year contract with the USM, three-quarter center John Thomas Jackson and winger Paul Vallée.
The Normandy sector
The first, almost 28 years old, is a former South African international under the age of 20. He played for the Bulls for a long time before arriving on the banks of the Seine in 2021. The center (1.89 m for 94 kg) was one of the basic men in his training. Last season he played 27 matches in the Rouen jersey, making 22 starts.
The second, Paul Vallée (21), trained in Montpellier, has really exploded this season under the orders of Sébastien Tillous-Borde with 21 matches for as many starts. He also showed finishing skills with five tries scored.
A Springbok in n.8 and an Argentinian at right pillar
This Thursday evening, USM made a big splash by announcing the two-year signing of Springbok Sikhumbuzo Notshe. The third-row centre, a double winner of the Currie Cup and recently of the Challenge Cup with the Sharks, is leaving the famous Durban franchise to settle down in Montauban, while he was on the CA Brive-Corrèze’s tablets. Notshe could well become one of the darlings of the Sapiac public.
The latest recruit announced by the USM is less known. The Argentinian right pillar Facundo Pomponio (1.90 and 125 kg) played successively in Céret, Vannes and Floirac before making his mark with the American Raptors, the club from Denver (Colorado). He returns to try his luck in France at a higher level. “He’s my friend and I can say that he’s a very good player,” says the former Montauban pillar, also Argentinian, Nicolas Basile. Both men are from Mar del Plata.
These recruits are added to those already made official: the second lines Victor Moreaux (Perpignan) and Clément Bitz (Béziers), the Australian scrum half Joe Powell (Lyon) and the center Maxime Espeut (Béziers). Enough to compensate for the announced departures of pillars Nicolas Agnesi, Victor Laval and Victor Delmas, hooker German Kessler, third lines Quentin Witt, Stéphane Munoz and Otar Giorgadze, scrum half Alexis Bernadet, fly-half Tedo Abzhandadze, centers Dan Goggin and Raphaël Sanchez, wingers Semesa Rokodoguni, Jean-Bernard Pujol and Bastien Guillemin. Without forgetting, the Hopes Inem Iskhakov and Alexis Rey who join Valence-d’Agen in Nationale 2.
