The owner and president of Montpellier Hérault Rugby Mohed Altrad explained his choice to hire Bernard Laporte as director of rugby. A sporting decision that he justifies by the extraordinary expertise and knowledge of the former president of the FFR, but also by an ability to unite around him.
“Our club is experiencing one of the most complicated starts to the season in its recent history” says Mohed Altrad. Montpellier is doing badly. Very bad even. Currently last in the championship with 6 units, the Hérault club has fewer points than there are days played. A terrible situation that looks like a descent into hell for a team that lifted the Brennus Shield 16 months ago. With Richard Cokerill at the head who is unable to put his project in place despite a workforce, on paper, of very high quality, Montpellier is heading straight into the wall.
So, Mohed Altrad, owner of the MHR, decided to take matters into his own hands to try to turn things around and put the cist ship back afloat. As announced on Rugbyrama and made official this Sunday morning, Bernard Laporte will therefore integrate well into the Montpellier organization chart as director of rugby with the aim of “save the club and restore cohesion to the sporting project” as indicated in the press release.
Exclusively the sportsman
A recruitment in this transversal position that the influential businessman justified in the columns of the Journal du Dimanche by recalling the qualities of the former boss of the FFR whose proofs in rugby have been made for several years now. “Today, we have to look for one of the best French experts in world rugby. Bernard Laporte is about the culture of winning, leadership and team spirit. […] He embodies the soul that our team needs. […] When one of the best French managers is available, it is a unique sporting opportunity. We couldn’t let her pass.”
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Player, coach, manager, selector and president, it is difficult to deny that Laporte actually has an overall knowledge of the world of rugby that is quite rare in the industry. Later in the interview, Altrad clarifies his role, twice: “he will exclusively supervise and coordinate the sporting aspects of the club”. He therefore replaces Philippe Saint-André (which was already the case at the RCT in 2011) who will continue “to advise general management, to deal with sovereign issues and to ensure relations with the authorities.”
Leader of men par excellence
Beyond his tactical and technical knowledge which has led him to have the prize list that is his, the Aveyron native is also and above all a leader of men of excellence. This is also what Mohed Altrad expects of him, as he explains to the JDD: “The appointment of Bernard Laporte aims to instill a spirit of champions, to turn around our club and lead it towards excellence. […] We also expect that his aura and natural leadership will allow us to regain cohesion within the team.”. Iron fist, strong character, muscular speech: Laporte knows how to make himself heard but above all how to be listened to. What the MHR may need. Because the 2022 champion has no shortage of talented players in terms of pure rugby but cannot create this bond. More than technical skills, it is also a trigger, an awakening to bring life back into a dormant group.
And this kind of character knows how to deal with men. This is evidenced by his notable appearances at the Stade Français with Dominguez, Dominici, Chaffardon, Rapetous and even in Toulon, where the management of a five-star locker room and world stars was enough to frighten more than one person. The Armitage brothers, Bakkies Botha, Danie Roussow, Drew Mitchell, and even Jonny Wilkinson: Laporte knew how to make them all play and get along together. Now, the mission in Languedoc promises to be different. “Sometimes you have to be good rugby players to know what to do. Maybe we’re not good rugby players…” whispered Paolo Garbisi, the MHR fly-half, in a press conference after the defeat against Usap, while Lenni Nouchi was in tears at the end of the match. The arrival of Laporte is therefore correlated with a major mission: to restore confidence to a group which seems to have completely lost it.