Top 14 – Bernard Laporte (Montpellier): “Playing against Toulon is heartbreaking every time”

What are your thoughts on the start of the MHR season?

The team is under reconstruction and is today led by a young staff whose members have, for the most part, worn the Montpellier jersey. This staff therefore has a real Montpellier identity, as was the president’s wish. It’s a chaotic season, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank Patrice Collazo, Vincent Etcheto and Christian Labit, because they are the ones who saved the club, now we are back on a new project. Many players have left, just as many have arrived and we have to get the mechanics back on track. Today we are short of points, we should have won away like in Bayonne or at the Stade Français but in these two matches we only played one half. And then it’s difficult at home, with two defeats already and this victory against Vannes which we had difficulty getting rid of.

This Montpellier team has often been criticized for lacking identity and for hiring foreign technicians or players. How important was it to rely on this Montpellier cement?

It’s true, this club has often been led by coaches who were not from here. There, this staff wore the MHR jersey, and they know the club. This is a good solution but you have to give them time to work. The only indicator is the terrain. But once again I want to give them time because it works well. Unfortunately, time is running out. In Top 14, there are descents. And apart from four teams who are in the lead, the rest of the championship is rather homogeneous.

What areas of progress have you identified?

We have to be better in our camp. Often, we score and then we regain points. We must get out of our camp, by foot or by hand. There’s no point in scoring if you make a mistake behind. We have to be very focused. To be a great team, you need very good defense and great discipline. I cite the case of Stade Français last year with the eleventh attack in the Top 14 but which came very close to reaching the final.

You have often been at the head of victorious or dominant teams, how do you experience being at the head of a team in difficulty?

I live it with passion. In a team, whether between the staff and the players, there must be passion and mutual aid. I’m not a masochist, eh, when you’re in difficulty you have the impression that you matter more than when things are going well. I no longer train, I’m no longer old enough. I would love to, but it would take me a week to get over it! So I try to build with them, and above all to ensure that they do not become demoralized. As I told them, this role is not easy. I was lucky enough to win a lot, but I also lost a lot. And we forget all that! When you take forty points against the All Blacks in Lyon, I can tell you that we only want to go back to the hotel and drink two or three whiskeys to forget! I have had their passion and I understand them, but you need composure. I have sometimes lacked it in my career, but today I know: there is no point in getting upset.

Also read:
FFR elections – “Some should have had the courage to leave”: Bernard Laporte regrets the non-resignation of Florian Grill

How to build a competitive team?

We have to bring in great players, choose them well, make them play together. There is no great team without great players. What is also very important is to have a very high level training center. The League imposes constraints on us which are necessary with the Jiff and the salary cap. This gives even more importance to training. The three teams that dominate the championship, Toulouse, La Rochelle and Bordeaux-Bègles, are three huge training centers. To have full seasons, you need fifty players. Young people must perform immediately. Here in Montpellier, we restarted the machine four months ago with the arrival of Jo (Caudullo, Editor’s note.) but it will take time. It’s been ten years since the club won anything in the youth categories, and we have only released five internationals in ten years. This is not possible. It’s a huge job, you have to plow. We also want to expand our basin around Montpellier, and in particular towards the Nîmes basin. Nîmes is a club that works very well and we must help it move up to the National so that we can exchange players. We are not afraid to launch young people: Lenni Nouchi is only 20 years old and we have entrusted him with the captaincy! The problem is that these young people have to be ready. And this is all too rarely the case.

Your speech on training contrasts with the recruitment policy that you have often implemented, namely the recruitment of stars. Do you want to do a Toulon bis in Montpellier?

When I say that we have to bring in stars, it’s not to flamboyantly… In Montpellier, the high-level sporting offer is so enormous that people have to make a choice. As a result, we have fewer people than elsewhere. It’s not pejorative, I played in front of seven people at the Stade Français! And with Max Guazzini, we reached 80,000 people! I think Montpellier is closer to Stade Français than Toulon. In Paris, there are thousands of other things to do other than go watch rugby. The president wanted a Montpellier staff and I think that people can now identify with this team, but once again we need to have a very large training center.

A very good rugby player does not penalize the other 14

You have thirteen players at the end of their contract, is that problematic?

No at all. Some will stay, others will leave, it’s like that in all clubs. It’s not a constraint. The constraint is to win matches.

What debriefing did you do of the meeting against the RCV?

When we lead 10-0, we do not have the right to make a mistake on the following referral. This changes the entire course of the match. It takes management, discipline. A very good rugby player does not penalize the 14 others. Last week, one of our players cost three fouls: I asked him what would happen if 23 players thought they were allowed to make three fouls each: that would make 69 fouls! This is not possible. This is also why Vannes caused us a lot of problems. But I remain convinced that this match, last year at the same time, we would have lost.

What makes you optimistic?

I feel that things are working well, that there is a soul, a stronger esprit de corps than last year, when the team was traumatized. It was very difficult to remobilize them. There were clans, and even clashes between them during an internship in Corsica. There was no trust, no unity. This year I feel more unity and enthusiasm.

One day I told Bakkies in the locker room that he was the greatest player I had ever coached.

An important trip to Toulon is approaching, how are you approaching this match?

We no longer have to do any calculations. All matches are important. Afterwards, we will receive La Rochelle and we will go to Castres. We have to play everything to the fullest. The players reacted well after the match against Vannes. We must continue our good performances away from home.

We imagine that this trip to Toulon will bring back good memories…

Playing against Toulon is heartbreaking every time. Toulon is a lot of memories, a lot of friends, a lot of players with whom I am still in contact and who are no longer there. Toulon is a city where rugby is a religion. I experienced both extremes with Stade Français, and I loved both extremes.

Are you still in contact with Bakkies Botha?

Of course. We saw each other last year, at the inauguration of the RCT Hall of Fame. It’s difficult to describe what happened with his players. They told me that I was the best coach in the world and I told them that they were the best players in the world. There was a feeling that passed between us. I was hard on them, but I also valued them. When you coach great players, you can’t always be tough. One day I told Bakkies in the locker room that he was the greatest player I had ever coached. And I think he wanted to show me that I wasn’t wrong. Beyond the fact that these guys were stars, it was above all that they wanted to win everything, to turn everything around. To turn everything upside down. But you have to choose these guys carefully. You have to meet them before signing them, you have to feel them. We cannot recruit on tapes. I remember the recruitment of Bryan Habana. I went to see him in London, on the sidelines of a Springbok match. I spent three hours with him and when I returned I told Mourad (Boudjellal, Editor’s note): “Sign it very quickly. » He knew the RCT better than me! And when I asked him why he wanted to come to Toulon, this is what he told me: “There are two things. First of all, I want to experience getting off the bus with all the supporters. And the second is that I want to play with Jonny Wilkinson. »It’s fabulous. These guys weren’t mercenaries. They were there to win everything, to be the best. Even at 35 or 36 years old.

Things hit me, shocked me

Saturday will take place the election of the president of the FFR, what is your opinion on the two candidates?

I am very far from that. I know “Codor” a little because I played against him a little, and I met him as part of the France team. I wouldn’t say he’s a friend, but I like him and he knows rugby very well. I don’t know who will win. I find it hard to understand why people are stuck with everything that happened this summer. I think if I had been president, I would have left. Everyone does what they want, it’s just a feeling. May whoever wins help French rugby develop, that’s all.

French rugby news has been very heavy this summer with slip-ups, affairs and drama. Is rugby at a turning point in its history?

These moments were painful. The most painful thing is the disappearance of this young boy, Medhi Narjissi. It’s terrible. I think of his dad who I knew a little. I give the family my support and my condolences, but it’s nothing. I think he is right to say: “They say that rugby is a big family, I no longer believe that. » I understand it. Things hit me, shocked me. People who party, despite that, who think about the election, despite that. That’s why I said earlier that I would have left. First, I would have gone to South Africa with him, that’s clear. I would have taken the plane with him. That’s the least we can do. Even if you didn’t do it, you’re the boss. I put myself in Jalil’s place. There’s nothing worse in life than that. Things displeased me. So I understand him when he says that he no longer believes in the big rugby family.