Boudjellal excited for Galthié arrival

Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal’s long wait to work with Fabien Galthié is finally over and he cannot wait for the former France scrum-half to start.

Galthié will take over at Toulon next season, replacing current head coach Mike Ford who is preparing for this weekend’s Champions Cup quarter-final away to Clermont.

Previously with Montpellier, Galthié has been long sought after by Toulon and Boudjellal spoke highly of him to Midi Olympique.

“I wanted him for a long time, and I saw him as [Bernard] Laporte’s natural successor,” Boudjellal said.

“But in the end he was not available when Bernard left, and when I signed Diego [Dominguez] a few weeks later, Fabien was no longer in his role with Montpellier.”

Galthié will head up a new project for Toulon focussing more on developing young French talent over signing foreign stars.

Boudjellal admits that the road back to winning the Top 14 might take longer under that ethos, but would be more rewarding.

“The model died in Toulon. Others have taken over and are doing even better,” he admitted

“The challenge of a mainly French team is more difficult, but if you win a title, it will be more virtuous.”