One lost, a 10 to find, how the MHR staff will manage the absence of Louis Carbonel at the opening against Toulouse

Léo Coly sera titulaire au poste de demi d’ouverture face à Toulouse. Jean-Michel Mart

Deprived of Louis Carbonel (concussion), the Montpellier staff are counting on Léo Coly to replace him at the opening against Toulouse, this Saturday May 18 (3 p.m.). A necessary adaptation.

After being on the tightrope, it had to happen. Montpellier will have to do without its best director, Louis Carbonel, against Toulouse. Exited with concussion against Castres, the opener should be absent for around ten days. " We will still have to adapt. Nothing new under the sun, assures Patrice Collazo.We worked on different options. It’s part of the beautiful photography of this season. But this is not prohibitive for playing against Toulouse."

To compensate for the departure of the former Toulouse player, in Castres, the staff had aligned Léo Coly at the 10 position. The scrum half was also in charge of the goal at the start of meeting, because there has been no rush at the gate since the departure of Paolo Garbisi to Toulon. Louis Carbonel played 25 games this season, including 21 as a starter. The Varois is one of the most used players in the MHR. This is also one of the points of imbalance, dear to Bernard Laporte, of this team. The other only opener in the squad, Louis Foursans (departing for Stade Français), has only compiled 190 minutes this season, in all competitions (one start against the Stade Français). Ulster).

Anthony Bouthier, who acted as interim manager for Handré Pollard (2020-2021), is out until the end of the season. As for Thomas Darmon, who started professionally as n°10, he has not held this position since January 2020…

Two scrum halves

"We, as a coach, must predict what will happen. We must anticipate what we are going to do already. Limit damage in terms of impact on players. The decision that we will make, for us, will be the best and most appropriate to play this match", assures Collazo. For this crucial meeting, the MHR will therefore have to make do with Léo Coly as a makeshift opener. And without a replacement scrum half on the bench. It is Thomas Darmon, replacement, who should therefore take over the position at the end of the match. For the goal, Léo Coly should take charge. It was he who took care of this charge when he played for Mont-de-Marsan. He was also considered a reliable scorer. Even if in Castres, he was not successful, with three failures (and a failed drop).

Louis Foursans is therefore not invited at the end of the season. A sign that Nîmes does not enter into the staff’s plans at all.