Mathieu Warnier, Media365, published on Wednesday July 12, 2023 at 11:10 a.m.
New Montpellier sports manager, Richard Cockerill has assured that he wants to leave behind him a complicated past season for the club and displays his ambitions.
Montpellier wants to start again on a good basis. Crowned champion of France at the end of the 2021-2022 season, the Hérault club did not experience the same success with an anonymous eleventh place, far from the aspirations of the leaders. This prompted Mohed Altrad and Philippe Saint-André to develop a staff that lost Olivier Azam during the year. The most striking arrival remains that of Richard Cockerill, first announced as forwards coach and then promoted to the post of sports manager. Having given up on remaining in the staff of the XV of England led by Steve Borthwick for the World Cup, the former hooker admits having seized “an opportunity” to find a championship which he knew as a player in Clermont between 2002 and 2004 then as a coach in Toulon in 2017. “I like this championship, it’s tough, it’s the toughest in the world, it’s long, it’s physically difficult, there are very good players, he said. -he confided in a daily interview The team. It was a challenge for me. I signed for three years and I want consistency. »
Cockerill: “This team is mine now”
If he discussed with Mohed Altrad and Philippe Saint-André a possible arrival after the World Cup, Richard Cockerill confided that such a solution would have made him miss “many weeks of preparation this summer, the one where you build your team “. In his eyes, it was impossible to reach the Hérault in these conditions. “I preferred to come here as soon as the recovery, to work hard on the pre-season and not to do the World Cup with England, insists the former England international, who assures that his departure is in no way linked with the replacement of Eddie Jones by Steve Borthwick. It was a difficult decision but it was important to be there, from the start. “Richard Cockerill assures that he has” no regrets “and that” it is a question of confidence and legitimacy “vis-à-vis his players. The new MHR strongman immediately made things clear and expects his team to “work hard” after a season to forget. “There is no more respect for this team which finished eleventh, confided the technician. This team is mine now, we have to regain this respect and it starts with very hard work this summer. »
Cockerill “in permanent exchange” with Saint-André
If he claims to be “ready to accept all responsibilities, whether the team plays well or badly”, Richard Cockerill claims to want “the team to work well during the week” and demands “100% effort, all the time” in game. “If you lose by respecting this requirement, and even if I hate to lose, there is less regret for the players,” he adds. For this new challenge, the former coach of the forwards of the XV de la Rose will collaborate with Philippe Saint-André, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde or even Benson Stanley, who was all already in place. Affirming that he will be “the manager of the team”, Richard Cockerill specifies that he will be “in permanent exchange” with the one who preceded him on the Hérault bench. “I am the head of rugby, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde is responsible for the attack with Benson Stanley who works on the defense”, specifies the one for whom the hierarchy “is not important”. To this will be added “work with the forwards on a daily basis”. However, the sports boss at MHR, who will be in charge of composing the team, assures that “the goal is to develop (their) game project together”. Without forgetting the objective which remains the qualification in the final phase of the Top 14.
#Montpellier #Cockerill #intends #relaunch #team
