Aviron Bayonnais makes its comeback this week. The Ciel et blanc will travel to Agen on Thursday evening (8:45 p.m.) on behalf of the 16th day of Pro D2. This is the first match of the return phase. This is the opportunity to take a look at the first part of the Bayonnaise season, to discuss the objectives, to take stock of the application of the 5,000 gauge in the stadiums, on the compulsory vaccination for the players but also the preparation for next season. Philippe Tayeb was the guest of 100% Rugby this Monday, January 3 on France Bleu Pays Basque.
France Bleu: Halfway through, Aviron is in 3rd place in the championship (52 pts), three points from Oyonnax and five from Mont-de-Marsan … Did you expect better?
Philippe Tayeb : We may have been surprised by the size of the Pro D2. I believe there is only one misstep. This is Mont de Marsan’s match at home (lost 14-33 to Dauger). Today, we are on the objectives set between the staff and the management of the club. We’re not going to be choosy either. The goal is to finish in the first two, to be able to make a semi-final at home. But be careful, because there are big teams in this Pro D2.
It’s like that, it’s written, we have to go back up.
The goal is the climb? That was the message at mid-season. Is your message still the case?
Yes, this is more than the case. It is even a goal that has been written, that has been said, that has been heard. From there, I believe that we give all the means to the club to evolve. Whether in terms of infrastructure, in terms of players, staff. After, if the structural financial means always rhyme with rising or title of champion of France, there are certain clubs which would often be champions of France. I don’t think it’s a form of pressure. These are just the ambitions of the club management. It is a job under pressure, which requires challenges to be met.
It’s music that we sometimes hear at Jean-Dauger: for Rowing, in the end, wouldn’t it be best to stay in Pro D2 to integrate new staff, new players? … to build, far from the difficulty of the Top 14?
We have to stop believing that not going up will consolidate the bases. I don’t think it goes like that. Young people today refer to the senior team and the senior team is the Top 14. If you want to keep your youngsters in the club, there has to be a Top 14 team. Otherwise, what interest? We will lose them. We will perhaps lose them sooner, in Crabos, because they will go to the clubs that will allow them to perform at the high level and the high level is the Top 14. It’s like that, it’s written, we have to go back up. Of course, we are not immune to not going up, but we give ourselves the means, whether they are sporting, administrative or the environment of the club. The club’s project is still well advanced. For four years, when I took the presidency of the club, we are moving step by step. Everything we said, we did: new stadium, new lawn, new lighting, AB Campus which will be delivered in June 2022. I believe that the roadmap is well written and above all followed. It is the most important.
You tell a player “You have nothing to do with the maintenance, but you will have to play maybe in Pro D2 or in Top 14”.
How is the cohabitation between the two staffs, the two managers, between the current Yannick Bru and his successor, Grégory Patat?
I believe there is a good understanding. Today, we cannot afford to wait until March, April or May to announce the new staff. We have to take initiatives and especially to anticipate because recruitment starts very early. It’s a bit unfortunate, but from August, we start to have players on the market. Our players are in demand, they ask for explanations and want to know who they are going to work with, whether it is new recruits or players who are at the end of their contract and we want to renew. We do not have a choice. We have no choice but to work in anticipation, otherwise it would be mismanagement on my part.
Camille Lopez? We’re working on it, of course.
To accompany Grégory Patat, certain names are mentioned (Julien Sarraute, in Colomiers or even Gerard Fraser, of RC Vannes) …
The only confirmation is Grégory Patat. It’s up to him to build his staff. It is not me, as president, who will be the staff of Rowing, nor the players. I have never initiated myself into either a recruitment or a staff. I just did a bit of acting during the last three months for the recruits that we were able to sign. The files were already pending. I believe that everyone must take their responsibilities and I believe that it would be a managerial fault to impose coaches or players, because the answer is easy: “They were imposed on me, they are not good, it is not my fault.” This is not how I work. For the players, we continue to work every day. There are going to be many other signatures which will be registered at Aviron Bayonnais. We must succeed in capturing players who accept the double challenge. It’s still very, very complicated. You tell a player “you have nothing to do with the maintenance, but you will have to play maybe in Pro D2 or in Top 14” therefore a significant difference in remuneration. You have to succeed in finding motivated players for this challenge, because the playing career is short: it’s 10 years, 12 years. From there, we have to find players who agree to be penalized without having participated in the matches.
And Camille Lopez, you haven’t given up on the idea?
Camille Lopez, this is an issue that is ongoing today. Nothing is official, but we are working on it, of course.
We won’t be able to open the ticket office. We will first manage with the subscribers and our partners.
The news is marked by the Covid-19, the return of the gauges in the stadiums for the next three weeks. During this period, Bayonne hosts two meetings in Dauger (Aurillac on Friday 14th and Grenoble, Friday 21st January) How are you going to manage that?
We mobilized our teams this Monday morning with a management committee. We will first manage the priority with subscribers and our partners. We won’t be able to open the ticket office. That is a certainty. 5,000 people today, counting on absences because everyone does not attend all the matches, we will manage, I hope, to give satisfaction to all the partners and subscribers on the Aurillac matches. and Grenoble. We will not be able to open the counters because, so much the better for Rowing, we have 6,000 subscribers and partners, so already above the gauge.
Have you already calculated the shortfall for the club?
We have one meeting in the sub-prefecture on Thursdayi. Our new forum meets the government’s requirements on health standards and we are especially in the process of seeing how we will be able to provide hospitality to our partners who remain the largest financial mass. Without that, it would penalize us much more than reimbursing subscribers because these are partners who still pay enough money. It will be a difficult moment, but we will have to work to find solutions, despite these constraints.
About twenty Pro D2 / Top 14 players who are concerned by the non-vaccination
The other question related to Covid-19 is vaccination. On January 15, Rowing may have to do without some players who have not been vaccinated?
Today, we started to start discussions. Two players gave us an oral agreement, that they were going to get vaccinated. I understand their distress, but it’s unrelated to the club. It is a law and it is true that we are awaiting decrees. From January 15, unvaccinated players will no longer be able to attend training or come to Jean-Dauger’s enclosure. Therefore, somewhere, they will have to be vaccinated or they will no longer be able to practice their profession. Who says job says remuneration. These are positions that we should have with the club, we will support and we will maintain, I hope, part of this help with the players. But the reason has returned, I believe, for some. We were only affected by two players who, for me, will get vaccinated quickly. As far as I know, because being at the UCPR (Union of Professional Rugby Clubs) office, there are maybe twenty Pro D2 / Top 14 players who are concerned by the non-vaccination. They are going to be faced with such personal and financial problems.