Top 14: “If we get back into the Champions Cup it will be a good season”, says Bernard Laporte, MHR rugby director

Four days before the start of the new season, Montpellier's rugby director Bernard Laporte spoke about recruitment, the new staff and the ambitions of the MHR. Montpellier faces Lyon on the first day, this Saturday, September 7 (4:30 p.m.) at the GGL Stadium.

What lesson did you learn from last season ?

The lesson is that we had to renew the group. It was obvious. We had to send new blood, rebalance the team.

That's what we tried to do. And then, there are still about fifteen new players who have arrived. Then, there are young people who are also coming up, young people from the training center. It's essential. With the measures put in place by the League, which are good measures, if you want to exist today, you need 45, 50 players. Which means that between the 35th and the 50th, they are young people. Young people who are competitive for this level.

We are starting to have some and there will be more and more. But it is true that it is a very important point, the training center.

We heard a lot last year that the squad was not balanced. To what extent have you managed to balance it by taking into account all the constraints on contracts, Jiffs, salary cap ?

The constraints that you have just mentioned, they exist. There are players who were under contract. We had to part ways with some whose performances we were not satisfied with. Playing with the non-jiff, indeed.

It was all of this that had to be rebalanced and added sporting value. If I take the position of right pillar today, we have three very competitive right pillars. We didn't have them last year. If we take the case of the backs, it's the same. The arrival of Stuart Hogg, Moorby, Tambwe, Moustin, it gives us more depth than what we had.

At one point, I said, what's the point of being stupid??

Louis Carbonel's departure came quite late. It disrupted the plans?

Yes, because three weeks before the end, Louis was still there. Afterwards, I realized that it was neither good for him nor good for us. He had this desire to change air for reasons that concern him.

At one point, I said, what's the point of being stupid? To say, no, I don't love you. I forbid you to leave. From the moment he expressed the wish, we had to act quickly. It's true that it's an important position. We went and got Domingo Miotti and Thomas Vincent. But yes, it was not planned, that's clear, this departure of Louis.

Did that change what you had planned in building the squad ?

Yes, because when you lose a player of this quality, taking free players wasn't easy either. It would have been easier if he had stayed or if he had left already in March or February. That's something he had said. It was me who didn't want it. But he was already telling me he wanted to leave.

The president made the choice to change almost the entire staff. How do you explain that ?

First, I would say that I have always thought of Patrice Collazo, Vincent Etcheto and Christian Labit. They have contributed to ensuring that the club remains in the Top 14. When we arrived, we were last. So proof that it has not been easy. In the six months that we have lived, there have been two seasons. There was a season where we won a lot of matches. And the end, where we were no longer winning. But they have still contributed to ensuring that the club remains in the Top 14. So I have always thought of them.

Afterwards, it is a young staff with a strong Montpellier consonance. It gives an identity. These are people who have worn the jersey. It's always a good omen for the players who arrive. They say to themselves: those ones have done before me what I'm doing there.

We see it clearly with Stade Toulousain. It's true that continuity with the elders is something important. After that, it's another one of our jobs.

But from what I see, first of all, they are passionate people. They are competent people. They are young. When I see Joan, I feel like I'm going back 30 years. So we have to support them. But it's serious, it's applied. It works well. Afterwards, only the truth on the ground validates all that.

You were talking about Vincent Etcheto, he was quite critical of his departure. What does that inspire in you??

I had him, Vincent, a week or two weeks after he left. But after that, I understand. Everyone has the right to have their opinion. I really enjoyed working with him. I didn't know him particularly on the job. I appreciated what he did. He is a person passionate about rugby, competent like Patrice Collazo. They are competent. There is nothing to say about that. But I repeat, we had to make do with the means at hand. It was not easy for them. And in addition, with key players who, unfortunately, very often, have not been there.

A coach is dependent on performance.

How will you operate ?

I will accompany them. I take part in all the meetings. I see all the training sessions. I try to support them as best I can. That is my prerogative. But it is also building the future. The training center, that is obvious. To give an identity, from the bottom up. I believe that is what everyone wants. But to come back to the staff, I especially want them to succeed. To succeed, you have to win matches. We know that. A coach is dependent on performance.

Have you set yourself any goals ?

I would say there is a general goal. It is to regain the Champions Cup. If we regain it, it means we had a good season.

That means that we are, roughly, in the top seven or eight. That means that you have indeed had a decent season. It has been difficult for two years. If we manage to achieve this objective, it will be indicative of a good season. That is the objective that everyone has in mind.

Do you see yourself in the future within the club??

Yes. First of all, if I hadn't had a certain proximity with Mohed Altrad, I wouldn't have come. I wouldn't have joined a rugby club. There's work to be done. It's exciting. And then, I wouldn't say that everything needs to be rebuilt. This isn't a club that's starting from scratch. It's a club that's coming off two difficult seasons. So, that means we need to rebuild. And find, I would say, the Montpellier we knew, which was stupid to play against, which was difficult to play against, which was always among the best French teams. That's what we need to find again.

What do you expect from the first match against Lyon ?

If you want to hope to achieve the objectives that have been set, you have to win all the games at home. That's obvious. If you lose one, it means things get complicated. You have to go and get two away games. What I expect is that we keep the state of mind that has reigned here for a month and a half. There is enthusiasm, a certain dynamic, a certain desire. And that we have this desire to defend these colours and this institution. That's what's important. As I said at the training camp, we will have succeeded in our bet when the stadium is full. That means that people will want to come and see us play. We have to fill the stadium.

It's from Saturday that we'll talk…

Exactly how do you fill a stadium ?

It's the same everywhere. If you want to fill the stadium, you have to win. We have players who are very well-known, Billy Vunipola, Paul Willemse, Stuart Hogg. But then, you have to win. In Montpellier, what I have noticed for 8 months is that there is a lot of sport, in the elite. So there is a choice. If you want to exist, you have to be at the top of the bill. And that seems logical to me. That's how it is.

Did you expect this when you arrived here ? This diversity ?

You don't see it when you're not inside. It's certain that in Toulon, in the elite, there's only rugby.

We talk about building, we talk about young people, we talk about the training center. It's something you're also working on?

There are several people in the club who work in this sector, but we need to work even harder. If we want a competitive team, we need to have a competitive training center. We need to go and get them, we need to train them, we need to support them. When Joan (Caudullo) came back, he started this work when he was director of the center. We need to continue it, improve it. When you look at the best French clubs, they have a very large training center.

I am delighted with the performance of some youngsters, who have been with us since the beginning. Some are new, if we take the case of Youssouf Soucouna, or youngsters from the club like the little Barreau, or Liam Akrab. There are promising youngsters. We need to find more, train more, so that we understand that it is important. If we want to compete, imagine that tomorrow you are playing in the European Cup and the championship, you need 50 guys. It is obvious.

And also, to bring back this Montpellier identity that had somewhat disappeared. There is the new staff, the new players. That also counts, to bring people in?

Yes, of course it counts. To get people to come, you have to win. In all sports, it's the same thing. You have to win. And especially here, because the competition is tough.

Are you looking forward to this first game of the season…

Yes, looking forward to it. We have to keep this good state of mind. There is a certain dynamic. There is more competition. That's what I told them. This competition has to be positive. We have to pull ourselves up. When you don't play one or two games, you have to hang on. You have to strengthen your desire, your enthusiasm to overtake the guy who passed you.

What did you think of the two preparation matches ?

I really liked it. Against Aurillac, There was a big magazine. That was good too. The youngsters had done the preparation. We tightened the screws and reduced the group against Harlequins. It was good. What they did was clean. After that, it starts there. It ;it's from Saturday that it will talk.

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