At time to travel to La Rochelle this Saturday (2:30 p.m.), ASM finally seems to be finding some color: it has been two and a half years since it won three consecutive matches in the Top 14. Today it is third and on an upward slope. His manager since February 2023, Christophe Urios, sees it as the reward for long-term work.
What is behind Clermont’s recovery in recent weeks?
The club is getting back in motion. ASM was a dominant club for around ten years. But with victories, you can fall asleep. This is what happened here. For a year, the club has been moving again, both in the business and sports areas. Last season was tough (8th) but we laid the foundations. This season, we are better on the bases, we won away, which allows us to continue. We analyzed our game particularly well after the November break. The players, especially the leaders, did a great job of analysis. It caught on.
You recently said that it was necessary to “change, clean, reorganize”. Strong words. What did you mean?
We also got back to work. Everywhere I went before, there was more work than I observed when I arrived here in February 2023. The match preparations did not correspond to what I liked. So we put things in place during the week, in the gym, on video, on the field, in the debriefing of matches, supporting the leaders. We restored order and meaning, we rolled up our sleeves. It was essential.
You also mentioned a difficult atmosphere last season…
When I arrived, I read in the press that some players were against the sacking of Jono Gibbes. That gives you a bit of a framework… I told myself there would be work. In the functioning of the staff, the relationship with the players and therefore the work, there were things I didn’t like. So we changed, sometimes the men because I had no choice. Those who wanted to go back into battle stayed. The others… We had to change. It took me a while. Too much time. It’s not going fast enough. But we are creating the foundations that will help ASM regain its position in the years to come. This is why I extended my contract until 2027.
To say that the club was humming is also a way of opening the umbrella in case of failure, right?
Frankly, the observation is objective. And it had been going on since 2017. Look at the results of the years before me, the departures of players, the difficulties in recruiting, the fact that teams like Bordeaux and La Rochelle have gone ahead. It wasn’t me who said the club was in a bad state. If we change the coaches, there are reasons.
How long do you think it will take to catch up on the dominant teams?
The teams in front of us are not waiting for us. We will have to work twice as hard and twice as well as them to catch up with them, both in recruitment, daily work, and management of the club. Be efficient and very quickly, without counting the mistakes we may make. Our salary cap does not offer us any margin, we are in tight flow. It will take time, but I know that a strong collective can return to the very high level. This club will win back because it is a strong institution.
How are you a different manager from the one who officiated at Bordeaux-Bègles (2019-2022)?
I always want rugby that corresponds to the territory, define a common project with the staff and the players, and be the guarantor of it. There is more closeness in my relationship with the leaders. I didn’t hesitate to change them here, which I didn’t do in Bordeaux. I should have done it, because very quickly I realized that some were individual and not collective leaders. Things were not going well in Bordeaux, I chose the status quo and ultimately, it blew me in the face. On November 17, 2022, I got fired for the first time. It had an impact on me and this experience was very useful to me. From now on, I am uncompromising about my relationship with the president, the leaders, the staff.
Your relationships with Matthieu Jalibert and Cameron Woki, in particular, were mentioned…
I didn’t have a problem with them, other than the fact that they weren’t at their level. However, when you want to be champion, your best players must be at the top. I told them, perhaps awkwardly. When I signed for Clermont, I think Matthieu was the first person to send me a message of encouragement. I enjoy seeing Cameron every time I meet him. Everyone thinks there was something wrong with them, that wasn’t the case.
How did you perceive Matthieu Jalibert’s last international sequence?
Matthieu was as I know him: a hothead. This is what makes it both strong and fragile. In this matter, I make no judgment. But he put his balls on the table. In our rugby, we need guys like that. He showed character. He is in agreement with what he felt and who he is. I like people like that.
In the back of your mind, you say to yourself that the current success of the UBB is a bit like yours, too?
Frankly, I don’t think about it. I participated in it, like all the coaches before me and those who pass and will pass after. No one is irreplaceable, we are only passing through. I know what state the staff was in, what season they were coming out of. I remember our first season (championship leader at the time of the interruption due to Covid in March 2020, Editor’s note). But I have no regrets, except for not having made the necessary decisions. If it doesn’t match, for one reason or another, it won’t match three years later. We must react quickly. Small problems become big problems, and in the end, you’re the one who suffers.
A word about your opponent this weekend, Stade Rochelais, sixth in the Championship?
We feel that it is a team and a club that is looking to evolve. Sometimes it takes a little time, especially in the game, to operate. They have had a lot of internationals, perhaps a little worn out by the Tournaments, the tours, the World Cup… But last season, it was a matter of few things for them to be in the final. And when I look at their two European Cup matches (victories in Bath and against Bristol, editor’s note), I find Rochelais with a good state of group spirit, a brutal, frontal game, with violence and big individualities.
