The revelation by “Sud Ouest”, this Wednesday, of the future arrival of Laurent Travers as director of rugby at Rowing, did not fundamentally shake up the Bayonne locker room. And for good reason, the name of the current president of the Racing board has been circulating for many weeks in conversations among players and staff. “Everyone was already talking about it on the right and on the left, without really knowing,” says a member of the club on the banks of Nive. Everyone had their little tidbits from the world of rugby. »
Since the first noises appeared in October, Grégory Patat and the rest of the management have become even more united. But also weakened. The arrival of a director of rugby has never been the priority of the Gersois and even though, the president Philippe Tayeb had promised him to be associated with the choice of the man as well as the definition of the field of skills of each. “I am not aware,” replied Grégory Patat, questioned at a press conference this Thursday.
The phone rings, the watch vibrates
The technician put the subject aside, preferring to concentrate on the trip to Vannes (14th), this Saturday (4:30 p.m.). It can allow Aviron (5th) to take root a little further at the top of the championship, before hosting Castres (December 28) and traveling to Montpellier and Perpignan in January. “These matches will decide a lot of things,” thinks the manager. This is why I ask players for stability in relation to the environment. That's my personality: I'm calm. »
The following sentence is pronounced with a smile: “This is also the exciting side of Bayonne… If I didn't want this environment, I wouldn't have come here. The phone rings late, the connected watch vibrates… I like it! Our job as a coach is like this: one day you are here, the next day there. » Today, Grégory Patat is at Rowing, perfectly on target with the mission (top 8) set by its president.
