During his mid-season briefing, FCG rugby director Aubin Hueber took the time to review the club’s situation while adding some news about the next season, notably formalizing in passing the extension of the opener Welshman Sam Davies for a minimum of two years.
This day will be the last before the mid-season break. How do you compare to your initial goals?
The FCG is where it wanted to be, it was the objective that the players set for themselves at the start of the season. In terms of the ranking, we are even ahead of what we thought. It must be remembered that the club has been on another cycle since the start of the season, with 17 recruits to integrate. It took a little time for these new players to adapt to the game system and to life in Grenoble but we find at the moment that we are no longer far from our full potential, even if we have quite a bit injured.
The 15th day of Pro D2 will begin with a duel between Brive and Agen this Thursday evening. Dax could achieve the big blow of the weekend, when Nice would have to submit to the law of the boss of the division, Grenoble… Here are our predictions ud83dudd2ehttps://t.co/0J3kSAb49k
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Did this ultimately rapid adaptation surprise you?
From the training in Corsica, we really felt the players were very involved, with emulation, stimulation, things happened which were rather interesting for the state of mind of the group and in the training sessions .
After two seasons of missing out on promotion, the goal at the end of the season must necessarily be to move up to the Top 14, today…
In any case, the club’s objective is to move forward, it is to move forward on the financial aspect, on the structures, with the performance and training center which should normally be released at the end of 2025-2026. So afterward, is this the year we’re going to go up? In any case, the club’s ambition is to get back into the top 14. When Patrick Goffi came to get me, it was in this ambition, even if we know that the reality on the ground is not so simple . To move up to the Top 14, you must win the final or the access match. We’ve been there for two years each time, but we watch others come up in our place. Obviously, we hope that it will be for us this year, even if we do not master all the elements 100%. This is why the objective, first of all, is to qualify. First, second, that would be the best, because we know that we would receive in the semi-finals, even if that is not a guarantee of moving up to the Top 14. What is sure and certain is that you have to go to Toulouse. And going to Toulouse still requires a lot of consistency in our results, because we will only be halfway through the season after our trip to Nice… We have to be vigilant because everything can change very quickly. This is the only reality of high-level sport.
Except during the access match against Montpellier, you showed yourself imperial at home in 2024. We imagine again that you will wish to remain so next year…
We know it’s not easy, we’re never safe from a poor performance. You have to be very vigilant. In any case, the objective is obviously to remain undefeated at the Stade des Alpes. It’s not the end of the world to lose at home, if you are able to then win away, but it’s always better for the state of mind, for morale, for the supporters and partners, to remain undefeated here at home.
Aside from the points removed from the standings, what major difference do you see with last year?
The difference is that when we coach, we don’t tell ourselves to wait until the 75th minute. There, we realize that at the hour mark or even beforehand, when we have to make turnovers, we have no worries. At each position, and particularly at key positions, we know that there are players who have quality and who are not going to lower the level. That’s important.
The better financial health of the club is not for nothing…
This year, we still have quite a few injuries, and the possibility of making these two medical jokers did us good, because it once again brings added value. The financial situation is rather stable, and I think that we must thank the shareholders and the President, who have once again done a lot of work to allow us as technical staff to be able to recruit these players.
What do you think, with a little hindsight, of the quality of your recruitment?
100% successful recruitment is rare. It can happen, but it’s rare, and I think we’re not too wrong when we see the performance of Mouton, Hardwick, Ployet, and so on. I think we’re pretty much right at the moment. It’s always random to say who we were wrong or not wrong about, but it seems to me that the players who were recruited are more in line with what we had decided.
Many of your executives are at the end of their contracts. As far as the off-field is concerned, this moment of the season is pivotal…
All these files were seen by the technical staff and myself for the “game” aspect, then met the president with their agent for the financial aspect. Among the end of the contract, we only have Victor Guillaumond left to meet. Moreover, among the players we saw, Sam Davies gave us his agreement to sign 2 plus 1, or even 3 years. So, there is no problem with that. As for Geoffrey Cros, he made the choice this Tuesday to sign for Brive.
The extension of Sam Davies is in any case a strong signal of your ambitions…
No one is irreplaceable. If Sam Davies had decided to leave for Leicester, we would have found a number 10 name. Everything must be clear: of course we want to keep as many quality players as possible, but if they want to have Other ambitions and other visions cannot be held back. We agree on this point with the president, we will not do any financial madness. We have grids, we know how far we can go on the financial aspect, and we will not exceed these grids. We will always make a counter-proposal to what our players offer us, but afterwards, they are free to accept it. And if they don’t accept, we will hurry to find a player of the same quality.
All the same, with regard to its partners and the entire club, it was particularly important to keep Davies…
Of course it’s important, especially since he’s not a player from the Grenoble team. I think it’s good that we can keep players like that, because it also shows that we are right about our Top 14 project. It’s a good signal because, like all years, many of our players are in demand, courted by Top 14, even Pro D2 clubs. But, I repeat, we do not deviate from the president regarding our management policy. And honestly, for the moment, I think it’s happening peacefully. We said we would meet all the players and even the staff members before the Christmas break, which was done. Now, we have until January 15 for all feedback on the proposals that have been formulated. We are clear, in any case we are in what we said..
In terms of clarity, we also have the feeling that after the tensions of last season, everyone has finally found their place, particularly at the staff level…
Everyone must know where they are going and how they are going there, everyone must know everyone’s responsibilities, at all levels. There is a clear hierarchy and organization chart, with responsibilities at each level, and everyone assumes them. I think this season it’s working quite well. When we remember where we were a year ago… Everyone knew how to take their responsibilities, the players took their responsibility, and we must congratulate them for that. But what we must remember, whether to the staff, the players or others, is that the institution of the FCG is above everyone. That’s why I’m looking forward to to see our beautiful training camp emerge from the ground and say, there you go, we have done the job, hoping that the results will follow. Then it will be up to others.
