Julien Sarraute announced, shortly after Fabien Berneau, his departure from Colomiers rugby at the end of the season. This inevitably shook up the news at the Haut-Garonne club, given the longevity of the manager in the club and in Pro D2.
This was in line with the discussions heard in recent weeks in Michel-Bendichou’s rooms. But the announcement of Julien Sarraute’s departure was nevertheless experienced as a shock in Colomiers. It must be said that it makes sense, after all these years spent at the club. “It was Tuesday, during the week. He told us that it was planned like that with the club, that there was no discomforttestifies Aldric Lescure. It’s rugby. It’s a somewhat professional world. There are choices of the president, of the coach…” “It was very sudden, we had some time before the information from Fabien (Berneau, the forward coach also leaving, Editor’s note) and behind, we took this announcement from Julienreports Yann Kergourlay, team manager and head of recruitment. The players plan with staff, have ideas of continuity. Like everywhere, you have one part of the group that it affects more than the other. It also depends on affinities and needs.”
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Transfers/Pro D2. New staff, extensions, departures: things are moving in Colomiers
Case by case, this news necessarily changes the situation: “A little bit, because we need to be told more clearly how things are going to happen next yeartakes over the third line, at the end of the contract in June. But we don’t know, it’s a bit on hold. We’re all a bit waiting, I think. Quite a few players are waiting to see things a little more clearly.”
A marked staff
On the staff side, however, the emotion was stronger: “I know that it is the life of a staff to live in cycle but I am personally quite disappointed because he is my friend. We are from the same generation, we played each other as young people… Our relationship has become close , like with Fabien and Flo’, with whom we eat together, we meet up on New Year’s Day… What’s more, we’ve been working together for eight years and we’ve accomplished a lot on his project… You don’t see him leave. You never really get used to these departures. It’s always. difficult, especially when it works well.” Even if the internal solution is considered, with the extension of Florian Nicot and the promotion of Aurélien Béco, a new era will undeniably open in the Toulouse suburbs.
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Mark the occasion for the latter
So obviously, the Gersois wants to mark the occasion and take advantage of this end of the cycle. “Obviously, my real and sincere desire, as I presented to them at the beginning of the year, is “the last dance”he imagines. Of the eight years I spent at Colomiers rugby, we will only remember the conclusion. It’s a shame and it makes me sad, but these are the rules of the game. So I want to write a nice conclusion, something positive. Live these last months with passion, determination and above all a thirst for victories.” A return to form is urgently expected, starting this Friday against Biarritz, otherwise there will be a truce and the next few delicate weeks. “If we lose, we are 6 points away from the first relegationpoints out Aldric Lescure. The pressure is there. So you have to finish correctly to have a peaceful two-week vacation.”
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Transfers/Pro D2. “It’s the end of the cycle”: Julien Sarraute announces his departure from Colomiers at the end of the season
Ultimately, a qualification in the top 6, the club’s objective which has not been achieved since 2022, would be a great epilogue to this adventure. A way to make an impression in Colomiers and elsewhere too. Because the Columérin microcosm was not the only one to discover this news with attention. This is because the duo formed with Fabien Berneau was inseparable from the image of La Colombe in recent years, and because Julien Sarraute has been the manager in Pro D2 for the longest time. “The duration relates to the quality of the character, the coach and the manager because he was one then the other. It lays the foundations of his rugby quality.” For the future, the one who is already working on building the squad for the 2024-2025 season is not worried about his future ex-colleague: “For me there is no doubt that Julien will find a good project. He is a very good coach and he has proven it. I even found it curious that he did not leave earlier on a Top 14. Even if it was beneficial for us. Having spent eight years with him, he is one of the two, three technicians for whom I have a lot of respect. And I have done a lot of staff.
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