Rugby union: new coaches, injuries, sanctions… Where is RC Sète ?

Jean-Luc Fabre attend une mobilisation générale. MIDI LIBRE – Jérôme Belluire

A few days before the resumption, co-president Jean-Luc Fabre takes stock of the complicated situation his club is going through.

The team is 10th in Fédérale 3 before the restart this Sunday at home. How did we get here ?

First hard blow, Stéphane Girard crashed on us in August and we found this solution with Mouss Amakrane and John Ragno to coach. It's going well but, little by little, we have confirmation that it's going to be complicated. Then the results started to deteriorate. There was this match against Isle sur la Sorgue where John was sanctioned for inappropriate behavior after the match. And there, we will begin a series of defeats, the match against Jacou being the high point with the rain of cards.

So we had to change gear…

When we saw that we were down to six consecutive defeats, a first in the history of the club, we decided to move on. I happen to know Michel Milovic, who is Serbia coach after having coached Pézenas and Palavas. He took office for the match in Draguignan on December 10. He comes with Éric Mercadier, head coach of Châteaurenard who is first in Fédérale 1. He will come to us on Wednesday, to take care of the forwards.

Two quality finishes for a club like RC Sète.

Yes, and I would like to salute their courage because they are arriving at a difficult time. I really want to thank them for that, as well as for their investment. Michel Milovic took care, during the break, of finding friendly matches to alleviate the suspensions. He took up the cause of RC Sète, he is 200% involved.

I also want to thank Mèze, Frontignan, Marseillan and Servian for the friendly matches. We will remember these teams who reached out to us during this difficult time.

What is the procedure to follow from now on?

Today we have coaches whose job it is and the watchword is general mobilization, with maintenance in the line of sight. Between the results and the sanctions (Editor's note: four points removed from the standings), we are tenth. We must save ourselves.

There is necessarily a link between the results and the staffing problems encountered this season…

With recruitment, we could envisage playing the leading roles and the results proved it at the start of the season. But we are experiencing a season with an absolute record number of injuries and suspensions. Some sanctions are legitimate, others excessively severe. Ivan Michel, for example, received a 14-match suspension for a punch that did not reach the opponent. Against Jacou, the four red cards received during the match may seem justified. On the other hand, adding five more after Jacou's report is, for me, excessive and unjustified.

Do you have the feeling that RC Sète is sanctioned more than others ?

We will come back to this situation later, when the climate has calmed down. Because a lot of things need to be said. But for now, we are focusing on the athlete and this extremely complicated season, with a skeleton crew. We resume on Sunday with the Marseille reception, we must try to get back on track with the soft underbelly of the ranking. There is a typical team that does not play. We are halfway through the championship and everything remains possible, in one direction or the other…hellip;

RC Sète recorded the returns from suspension of Ragno and Pace, as well as Virenque (Achilles tendon) and Espinosa (pneumonia). Petroff and Carambat only have one match left. I subscribe to read more