‘Mission fulfilled’ – French giants sack SECOND coach this season after dire Top 14 run
Montpellier are already lining up Patrice Collazo's replacement.
French giants Montpellier have sacked a second head coach this season after the 2022 Top 14 champions narrowly escaped relegation.
Former England assistant coach Richard Cockerill started the season as the man in charge of the billionaire-backed club.
However, after a horrid start to the Top 14 campaign, he was shown the door with disgraced ex-World Rugby vice chairman Bernard Laporte recruited as the team’s new director of rugby in November 2023.
In an attempt to turn their fortunes around, Laporte brought in the polarising figure of Patrice Collazo, who Brive had just sacked.
Collazo confirms departure
A report by RMC Sport stated that the Montpellier coaching staff were warned by Laporte that they were facing the axe ahead of the club’s Access Match against Pro D2 runners-up Grenoble to decide the 14th club in the Top 14 next season.
Collazo’s assistants, Vincent Etchetto and Christian Labit, are all reportedly set to follow him in leaving the club after they joined him at the last minute in November 2023.
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Now, the head coach has confirmed in an interview with SudRadio that he has been sacked after “fulfilling” his mission.
“Yes, I learned it this afternoon (June 17),” Collazo confirmed to the radio station of his dismissal.
“Most importantly, as I told my players after the match, I came on a mission and we fulfilled it. We knew very well that it was in the very short term, with the objective of keeping the club in the Top 14.
“That’s why I accepted the Montpellier mission.”
It’s been a rollercoaster season for the now ex-Montpellier boss, who beat Grenoble with Brive in the Pro D2 before fronting up against them in the promotion-relegation match.
“If you take my last 12 months, it’s been a crazy experience,” he added.
“As a coach, I went through all the phases. It was very testing, we had the destiny of a club in our hands.”
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Next coach
With the head coach role now vacant for Montpellier ahead of the 2024/25 season, it is reported that club owner Mohad Altrad could gamble on two young coaches and club legends to take on the job.
Ex-hooker Joan Caudullo and scrum-half Benoît Paillaugue are reportedly leading the way for top roles, with the former expected to land the top job.
Caudullo played well over 100 times for Montpellier and has since joined the club’s youth set-up and has worked as a forwards coach in the senior team.
Meanwhile, Paillaugue only stepped into the coaching set-up with the youth squad this year after hanging up his boots. He played over 270 times for Montpellier before finishing his career with a stint at Toulon.
