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Irishman Prendergast the big winner in Racing's coaching reshuffle
By Online Editors
Racing 92’s coaching staff will have a continental feel to it next season after boss Laurent Travers confirmed the reshuffle that will take place when his co-coach Laurent Labit moves on to work with the France nations team under Fabien Galthie.
Travers and Labit had been joined at the hip for more than decade, the pair winning Top 14 championships for Castres and Racing, but their partnership will now cease with Travers ready to embrace a staff with an Irish, Argentine and Kiwi influence.
Supporting Travers will be four assistants: Mike Prendergast (backs/attack), Patricio Noriega (forwards), Chris Masoe (defence) and Philippe Doussy (skills and footwork).
Travers’ recruitment of Prendergast will be viewed as something of a coup. The former Munster scrum-half has been working at Parisian rivals Stade Francais and had been courted by Toulon, whom he had signed a pre-contract with, as well as being linked with a vacancy at his province in Ireland.
Prendergast first moved to France from All-Ireland League club level, swopping Young Munster for Grenoble and then working at Oyonnax before switching to Paris last summer.
Stade recently defeated Racing in a gripping derby, a victory that would have helped Prendergast get the nudge on his rival for the job, the Jaguars boss Gonzalo Quesada. England's Rory Teague had also been linked to the Racing role.
"I was able to talk with him [Prendergast] for a long time in terms of the system of offensive play in three-quarters. That corresponded to my expectations, just as Gonzalo Quesada also met my expectations. This was played between the two and it is Mike who won.”
Doussy, who has been working with Jacques Brunel’s French national team, will not be going to the World Cup so he will be available for an immediate start, while Travers opted to maintain confidence in Noriega and Masoe rather than seek out replacements.
In other developments, Dimitri Szarzewski will work with the Racing academy while Casey Laulala, a close friend of Labit, is leaving.
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I wouldn’t think the risk is cash flow, as they have large cash reserves they said all through covid.
I suspect the author has it completely wrong as it pertains to the pool as well, because I can’t see the contracts of players changing year to year like revenue does.
I’d imagine there is an agreed principle to a ‘forecast’ figure of revenue for a cyclical period, and this is what 37% or whatever of is used for player salaries. So it would not change whatever that figure is until the next cycle. Cash flow, as you said, would be the main factor, but as they aren’t paid all it once, they’d not be hindered in this manor I don’t believe. Of all the references I’ve seen of a the player pool agreement, not once have I seen any detail on how the amount is determined.
But yes, that would be a very reasoned look at the consequences, especially compared those I’ve seen in articles on this site. Even with turnonver north of $350 million a year, 20 is still a sizeable chunk. Like this RA’s broadcast deal, they might have smaller sponsorship for a short period to align with everything else, then look to develop the deal further heading into the Lions tour cycle? Perhaps trying to take a deal from low to high like that is unlikely to a long term investor, and NZR want to get a good shortterm deal now so they can capitalize on growth for the Lions (i’m assuming that series has consequences on more than just broadcast deals right).
Go to commentsAnd a few Australians too ……
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