It appears that changes have to be made - Coach Ibanez to leave Bordeaux
Raphael Ibanez has announced he will leave his position as head coach of Bordeaux-Begles at the end of the season.
The former France captain, who won 98 caps for his country over an 11-year period, took over at the Top 14 club in 2012.
Ibanez has subsequently led the side to a series of mid-table finishes and looks set to do so again this season with Bordeaux sitting eighth.
The news was confirmed via the club's official website on Monday, just two days after a resounding 46-14 win over Grenoble.
"After the victory of this weekend, which allows the team to project themselves calmly towards a good end of the season, it is time for me to evoke the future: following exchanges with the players, and [president] Laurent Marti, it appears that changes have to be made," Ibanez said.
"I confirm today that I will leave the UBB at the end of the season.
"It is said that 'love lasts three years', for me it will have lasted five years with this team! I am proud to have contributed to the development of this club which I hope will grow in the years to come.
"I thank all the members of the club - players, coaches, members of the board, supporters and partners - for their support on a daily basis. I thank president Laurent Marti for the trust he has placed in me, his unfailing involvement and integrity."
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What’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
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