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Rugby Editorial
Published on
7 oct. 2024 à 6h26
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The appointment of Maxime Mermoz within the staff of the Cameroon national team has surprised more than one in the world of rugby. The former three-quarter center of Toulouse, Perpignan or Toulon will form with Olivier Missoup, former third row notably with Oyonnax, the RCT and Racing 92, a 5-star pair to coach the modest African selection.
At the origin of this unexpected commitment, a rapprochement between the two men in 2021, during an internship of the Algerian team in the Toulouse region, while Missoup was on the staff and Mermoz was in contact with the federation Algerian for a role in the qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup. If the affair collapsed between the DZ selection and the finalist of the 2011 World Cup, the latter kept in good contact with Olivier Missoup. To the point of being his training sidekick at the gym this summer.
A first official line of coach in Mermoz’s CV
When the ex-3e line received and accepted the project presented by the Cameroonian federation, he then naturally thought of his friend to accompany him in this adventure: “He did not need to talk to me much to convince me,” assures Maxime Mermoz to Actu Rugby. “From the moment he called me to offer me the project, I was already convinced! We share the same vision of rugbythe same values and this desire to transmit. »
A friendship story and for Mermoz, the opportunity to add a first official line of technician to his CV, he who had to stop his sporting career in 2020 for medical reasons. “I always had the idea of coaching. I did it a little in the shadows, whether to follow my son to rugby school or to lend a hand to the Fédérales du Var teams.”
“I had doors closed to me at a high level”
“I haven’t been able to do it at a higher level yet because doors have been closed to me and they continue to close doors to me today,” assures the former center. “But it’s not a problem for me because it also allowed me to do what I wanted and to be able to start this adventure with Cameroon today.”
A dive into the unknown as much as into the abyss of the World Rugby rankings, where Cameroon occupies 108e rank, in ambush behind the Solomon Islands, Norway and Burundi.
He could coach Top 14 players in Cameroon
Will Mermoz use his nice track record (4 Brennus Shields, 3 H-Cup) and his status as a former international (35 caps) to convince prestigious names in the Top 14 – mentioned by Missoup in The Team – such as Gabriel Ngandebe (Montpellier), Christian Ambadiang (Castres), Alexandre Tchaptchet (Lyon) or even Theo Ntamack (Toulouse) to join the Cameroonian selection?
“It will be more Olivier’s part,” he smiles. “Now, these players who may not have the opportunity to play for the France team have the opportunity to join an ambitious project and help rugby grow in their country of origin, which is not ain’t nothing.”
Although he is far from being certain of being able to bring together such a dream team under the jersey of the Indomitable Lions, Maxime Mermoz knows that November 18 will be the date of his official debut in his new role with a match in Casablanca against Morocco. The first step in an atypical adventure.
Anthony TALLIEU
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