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Gibbes gets Clermont job while O'Gara earns promotion at La Rochelle
La Rochelle director of rugby Jono Gibbes is to join Clermont on a three-year deal as the replacement for Franck Azema, a transfer that will see current Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara step up into the director role that Gibbes will vacate at the home of the Heineken Champions Cup semi-finalists and Top 14 title chasers.
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O’Gara, who has agreed terms through to 2024, will take over at the Maritime club on July 1 having initially joined them in 2019 following two Super Rugby title winning seasons as an assistant at the Crusaders. His decision to stay will now end speculation that he might join Munster sometime in the near futre.
The Irishman, who earned his coaching stripes in France at Racing 92 after he retired from playing with Munster and Ireland in 2013, told the La Rochelle club website: “I’m extremely proud of the confidence that La Rochelle have shown in me by appointing me at the head of the group.
“I’m obviously very impatient to continue this adventure next season, but all in good time. We have important deadlines ahead of us and above all a good season to end in the best possible way.”
Gibbes was the New Zealander who recruited O’Gara to the club but he will now switch to Clermont, with whom he won the 2017 Top 14 title before heading to Ulster and on to La Rochelle.
? @RonanOGara10 est nommé à la tête de l’équipe professionnelle pour les trois prochaines saisons à partir du 1er juillet 2021 ! #FievreSR
Plus d'infos ??https://t.co/hEimXOva2o
— Stade Rochelais (@staderochelais) April 22, 2021
Clermont president Jean-Michel Guillon told his club’s website: “We are very happy to have found a coach of Jono’s calibre in order to guarantee our sporting ambitions in the coming seasons. He knows our club well, its players and how it works, with which he has already enjoyed success before gaining new professional experiences in Ulster and La Rochelle.
“His high standards and professionalism, demonstrated this season through La Rochelle’s remarkable progress in both competitions, will be the basis for his assumption of office this summer. Under the search conditions imposed on us, we are very happy to have found in Jono Gibbes the person capable of embodying the ambitious future of the club in the years to come.”
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#OFFICIEL ??Jono Gibbes jusqu’en juin 2024 ??
Dès le mois de juillet, Jono Gibbes, champion de France avec l’ASM Clermont Auvergne en 2017, fera son retour au club en tant qu’entraîneur principal #YellowArmy
?https://t.co/iuSPW3DztL pic.twitter.com/pFaQNJi5nr
— ASM Rugby (@ASMOfficiel) April 22, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Always reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
1 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
2 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
4 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
4 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
2 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
4 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
7 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to comments