RC Vannes is counting on Spitzer to move into the Top 14

The three-year extension of coach Jean-Noël Spitzer (50 years old), announced at the beginning of the month by RC Vannes, put an end to a three-week mini-series, which notably sent him to the Castres bench (Top 14). This Thursday, he held a press conference alongside his president Olivier Cloarec, to explain their choice to continue the adventure together. “It's always a good thing to be able to make choices when they're not the default. We quickly agreed that we are not yet at the end of the adventure. We have projects to carry out for the future stability of the club. Our ambitions are perhaps excessive, but we believe that RCV's place is in the Top 14 and that we can put it there,” says the Breton coach, in office for 20 years and now linked to the club until June 2028.

“One club man”

“I am convinced that Jean-No remains the man for the job and the man of one club,” underlines Olivier Cloarec. My job was to reassure him about the coming seasons, about the means that we will be able to implement. If we start again in Pro D2, it will be with the second or third best budget, with the experience of this first season in the elite and the objective of getting back there as quickly as possible. For the president of the RCV, the plans to expand the La Rabine stadium (currently 12,000 seats), the cornerstone of the club's financial model, “also played a role in the decision of Jean-No (Spitzer) to plan on these next three years.

As during his previous extension, at the heart of the 2022-23 season, Spitzer prefers to talk about club project than about his personal future: “What I hope is that the RCV is stronger in two years, that we goes down to Pro D2 or not. We need to be close to the Top 2 in terms of payroll. Even if we stay in the Top 14, remaining will be just as difficult to achieve next season. And restarting the machine in Pro D2 is not so simple: you have to have a two or three year vision to rebuild a team.”

“I want to stay on the field”

The sports manager (his current position in the club's organizational chart) confirmed that his prerogatives would remain the same: “I want to stay on the field, at least for the next three years”. With which staff at his side, when the contracts of all his assistants (Yoann Boulanger, Mathieu Cidre, Goulven Le Garrec and Mikaele Tuugahala) expire at the end of the season? “Our operation has proven itself in Pro D2 and this season on our ability to be at the level in Top 14, at least in certain matches. I don’t feel a need for change, but relaunching a project and a dynamic must involve questioning,” replies Spitzer. “We couldn't position ourselves until Jean-No (Spitzer) had given his answer. We will have this exchange as quickly as possible to make decisions before the holidays and for everyone to be clear about their future for the return phase,” announces Olivier Cloarec.