Rugby: Montpellier appoints Joan Caudullo as manager, formalizes Stuart Hogg and confirms Bernard Laporte

The president of the Montpellier rugby club, Mohed Altrad, on Tuesday entrusted Joan Caudullo, until then in charge of the training center, with the position of manager of the MHR to replace the experienced Patrice Collazo, dismissed from his position Monday the following day maintaining at the last minute in the Top 14 snatched (20-18) in the jump-off in Grenoble.

The boss of the Hérault club also confirmed the arrivals for next season of Scottish fullback Stuart Hogg (100 caps) and Congolese winger Madosh Tambwe, from Bordeaux-Bègles, as well as the return of international pillar Mohamed Haouas (Biarritz/Pro D2).

Caudullo, 42, will be accompanied by the former emblematic scrum half of the MHR, Benoît Paillaugue, integrated into the technical management last fall, and the three-quarter center Geoffrey Doumayrou, who ended his career as a player on Sunday.

“The staff is made up of Montpellier residents. Joan Caudullo will be the head coach, it’s a big challenge,” announced the president of the MHR during a press conference.

With this reshuffle, he hopes to emerge from the crisis that his club is going through, having gone in two years from the title of champion of France to the threat of relegation to Pro D2 which was only ruled out in the 77th minute of the match at Grenoble. “It’s been better since Sunday’s victory,” he admitted.

Bernard Laporte remains director of rugby

Bernard Laporte, once tipped to become deputy president of the club, retains the functions of director of rugby which he has held since November 19. “He is not there to coach but to bring his considerable experience,” underlined Mohed Altrad.

The new staff responds to a desire to restore local color to the MHR.

Caudullo has headed the MHR training center since his return to his training club in 2020, after having held the same functions at Mont-de-Marsan (Pro D2) at the end of his career in 2017.

This former hooker had notably participated in the first Top 14 final of the MHR, in 2011, lost against Toulouse, within a team led by Fabien Galthié, before joining the Landes club in 2012.

Benoît Paillaugue, 36, embodied the Hérault club for more than a decade (from 2009 to 2022) with his leadership temperament. A native of La Rochelle, this pocket scrum half identified with the MHR alongside his accomplices François Trinh-Duc, Fulgence Ouedraogo and Louis Picamoles, from the training center.

These technicians will be accompanied by other former Montpellier players, already present in the technical staff: Didier Bès (scrum), Antoine Battut (threshold, forward play), Jérémy Valls (football game), Benson Stanley (goal game). ground).

Patrice Collazo, who left with two of his deputies Vincent Etcheto (attack) and Christian Labit (rucks), was dismissed on Monday after having succeeded in the maintenance mission entrusted to him in the fall by President Altrad. The former coach of La Rochelle (2011-18) and Toulon (2018-21) was under contract until 2025.