Last September, Guillaume Galletier smiled at the mention of the large number of former Montpellier residents present at CA Brive. “Warning: Dany Brennan is from Toulouse, Pierre Tournebize and Enzo Sanga from Clermont, Joris Jurand is from Avignon… so good, it’s not real (laughs)”. Nevertheless, many of them have gone through the Montpellier training center. Among them, Joris Jurand. The versatile winger unfortunately never had the chance to play with the pros for Hérault. “It allowed me to train with great players, from whom we necessarily take positives” points out the 26-year-old player.
He rubbed shoulders with N’gandebe and Vincent
Among the players, there are three-quarters Gabriel N’gandebe or Arthur Vincent. “Arthur started the year I arrived from Provence Rugby,” he recalls. “He went directly to the pro team, we saw that he was above the rest” underlines Joris Jurand without nostalgia. As for Gabriel N’gandebe, he speaks of a player “very very fast and very fast, with great support. We will have to be careful this weekend”. He also quotes Yvan Reilhac, “or other very restrictive players because we know that they are of superior quality” to the Brive players. “It will take all our heart and great courage to beat them.”
He arrived like other former Montpellier residents in Brive
In the Espoirs squad, in the photo, he stands next to coach Anthony Floch. Behind him, in second place is Dany Brennan. A disturbing coincidence, even if Joris Jurand admits not having scrapped much with the Franco-Irish at the MHR: “I didn’t know him very well, and in addition we only played six months together, but we got along well”. The one that Joris Jurand knew the most in the end was the local stage Guillaume Galletier. “I knew him from before since we had played at the Espoirs pole, him as a player, me as a referee. When I signed in December (2018), I knew he had signed for the year after, so it brought us closer.” A solid friendship between Joris, Guillaume, Dany and Pierre was forged. A strong point in a collective.
– © MHR official website
He plans a big fight against the MHR
So, when facing his former team, Joris Jurand foresees an even tougher match than against Clermont. “The fight will be even harder than last weekend” believes the winger. “It’s a very disciplined team, very well organized with key players”. Joris Jurand spontaneously cites Serfontain or Reinarch. “They’ve had a week off and are preparing to come with the best team possible. You’ll have to be 200% to beat them.” predicts the former Montpellier resident. But, impossible is not Brivist.