For the first time in almost twenty years, a departmental selection will participate in a leading national competition, under the united banner of the Cher committee.
This season, the young U14 rugby players from Cher are participating in the French Super Challenge. For their entry into the competition, on Saturday, they will travel to Tours to face the local team, as well as the Loiret selection.
“Working together”
“Before, our best licensees were already participating in the French Super Challenge, but with USON Nevers in dual license,” explains the manager of this team, Yannick Hérault. However, we had every interest in keeping them at home. But, to exist, we still had to succeed in pooling our forces on a departmental scale. The creation of training centers in Bourges or Vierzon goes in this direction, and the arrival of certain managers now allows us to implement joint projects more easily. The objective is to ensure that the clubs succeed in working together. »
Federal 2: despite a long numerical inferiority, the Bourges XV returns to victory
If the biggest clubs in the department (Bourges XV, Sancerre and Vierzon) are the biggest providers of young talent, all the clubs on the committee are called upon. The players of the selection benefit from joint training sessions in Saint-Florent and Jean-Brivot.
Staff provided
In addition to its manager, Yannick Hérault, the staff of this U14 team is made up of Jean-Philippe Méry (Aubigny), Anthony Ribeaudeau and Louis Boyau (Bourges XV). The two Club Technical Advisors (Christophe Collette and Pierre Perreux-Sanchez) or William Gacon (Sancerre) will intervene occasionally.
In the past, Cher had already experienced elite structures, through the Berry performance center (then housed at Creps) or with its Reichel team, in particular, playing at the national level.
“It was interesting, but we never managed to do it again,” regrets the president of the committee, Serge Richard. With our Reichel team, we reached the quarter-finals twice. Then, Bocquillon, Desbois, Lavrut, Schweitzer… made the heyday of the Landerneau federal teams…”
The next day is scheduled for December 14 in Clermont-Ferrand. The Cher players will also face Aurillac and Lyon. New fields are planned for the second part of the season, before the final days in June.
Philippe Roch
