Top 14 – How Pierre Mignoni (Toulon) prepared his return to the sidelines

Returned with a smile in front of the cameras, Pierre Mignoni was already almost speechless when it came time to appear for the usual briefing in front of the press. The director of rugby took this with a smile, when he was questioned about his vocal cords. However, they have been rather spared in recent weeks, and they will also be very useful to him this weekend.

Judged “responsible for an action against a match official and more particularly for misconduct towards a match official” at the end of the defeat of Toulon at Clermont (19-18), the person concerned received an effective six-week suspension. The decision was poorly received in Toulon, and especially by Bernard Lemaître who decided to appeal. At the beginning of the month, during the truce, the RCT welcomed a “decision in favor of Pierre Mignoni”. The sanction was canceled due to a “formal defect in the disciplinary procedure”.

In front of the microphones, Mignoni commented for the first time on this decision. “I accepted the sanction, and I also accept… the pardon. That's not the most important thing. I've already said it, the period was difficult. It was difficult not to be with my players , not to participate. It's over, I've assumed I'm going to be with my players, and that's obviously good.” Before adding: “We always learn from every situation. positive to react quickly, even if I didn't do anything wrong in the sense of ethics. I did not say anything to anyone in an aggressive manner. I am not going to go back on it, yes, it was not acceptable in substance. , I had reason to be angry, but that's in the past.”

Mignoni: “We’ll see if I come back to the side of the field”

Since the departure of Franck Azéma, the boss of the RCT had gotten into the habit of experiencing all the meetings as close as possible to his players. Will this forced elevation call into question any form of management? “We'll see if I come back to the edge of the field. I haven't made a choice yet. I'll perhaps gain height in the first half before going down in the second half. I've already done it, I'll see . When you're up there, you have a different vision. I'm going to do what I feel.”

Among the players, however, the news was well received as the absence of the captain was “bizarre”, says Dréan. “We didn't mention it in the group, the winger later tempered. But, it's always special not to have your coach before the match, at half-time, and even at the time of the end of the game will inevitably bring something to the group, even if everyone worked to make this period happen in a natural way. We didn't really feel the difference during the week, it was just. especially on weekends.”

Also returning at the same time as the Var coach, Matthias Halagahu insisted on the coach's contribution during the break: “During the week, there is no impact, even when arriving at the stadium. Here, we are more in the individual preparation at half-time, even if I was not there, I know that he is capable of some shouting to get us back in or encourage us. inside. The staff was able to fill the gap, but we obviously prefer that he is there, with us.”