Top 14 – Report. In Bayonne, all it takes is a spark…

All it takes is a spark for the city of Bayonne to ignite and come alive around what it holds most dear: its rugby club. The last hours spent on the banks of Nive confirm this. The revelation on our website last night, of the probable departure of Xan Mousques towards Bordeaux caused a lot of talk. Within the club and among the supporters, who see one of the most talented players of his generation joining the Bordeaux rival, a year after Matis Perchaud made the same choice, the blow is difficult to take.

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Transfers. Top 14 – Union Bordeaux Bègles on pole to enlist Xan Mousques (Bayonne)

This morning, under the gray of Jean Dauger, the “Pieds Mouillés” debated at length on this subject, while the sky and white prepared the trip to Vannes. A moment later, at a press conference, Grégory Patat confirmed the departure of the U20 international at the end of the season: “Xan is going to Bègles, that’s clear”. If nothing has yet been signed, Xan Mousques (19 years old) has given his written agreement to UBB, where a contract for the next two seasons awaits him, according to our information. The Aviron Bayonnais manager was in the car when his young winger or fullback announced his departure.

Patat is “not aware” of Travers’ arrival

A little later, Patat learned, via our colleagues at South Westthat Laurent Travers would join Aviron Bayonnais this summer, in the role of sports director. He didn’t fall out of his chair when he found out the news. Mid-October, it was through the press on our website that he learned that its president, Philippe Tayeb, was discussing with the current president of Racing with a view to a future arrival. Laurent Travers, in a press release published on October 24, denied “any agreement”. “I’m not aware”, simply declared the Gers manager this afternoon at a press conference, when he was questioned about the future arrival of Laurent Travers.

Grégory Patat then developed his response, after a reminder from a colleague: “I don’t know about it, so I’m not going to talk about it, because I want to switch to Vannes. There’s a lot of talk around that. I’m not going to broach the subject, it’s a bad time two days before the match. If we look at Tadhg Furlong, there was never any question of him coming to Bayonne (media had reported contacts, Editor’s note). There are associations which are, sometimes, a little dubious. On the subject (Travers, Editor’s note), we will have time to address it. Now is not the time to talk about it.”

Patat: “Our environment is made like that. One day, we are here. One day we are there”

It is in this context that the technician, who had clearly told his president that he did not want anyone above him in the organization chart, must prepare the future trip to Vannes. Wednesday noon, everything was calm in Bayonne. A few hours later, the names of Xan Mousques and Laurent Travers were at the center of all discussions. And he had a group to manage and a trip to Vannes to tackle.

Despite everything, he tries to remain imperturbable. “You know my personalityhe smiles this afternoon. I am calm. I ask my players for a lot of stability in the Bayonne environment. We build a lot of tools to avoid responding to these asides. There are a lot of announcements of player arrivals that have fallen on match days. It never weakened us. That’s how it is. I build my environment with the players. If I hadn’t wanted an environment like that, I would never have come to Bayonne. There is this exciting side here. Afterwards, as you say, we receive phone calls a little late in the evening. On the connected watch, it sends. But it’s nice, I like it and our environment is made like that. One day, we are here. One day we are there. This is the job of coaches.”