Toulon (AFP)
The Toulon manager, Patrice Collazo, did not hide his emotion Monday to mention the disappointing season of his team, punctuated in 8th place in the Top 14 and confirmed to have "asked the question" of a departure.
"I am marked by this season. I place human relations above everything and somewhere, we missed it a bit," he lamented, with wet eyes, during a presentation to the press of the club's strategy for next season.
"I am marked because I am from Toulon", insisted the native of Seyne-sur-Mer, a town located a few kilometers away, regretting "the rendering on the ground" and "making the supporters unhappy".
"I asked myself the question at times (to leave) and then I rocked. It can't stop like that, especially when you're from here," continued the 47-year-old pillar, detailing a new RCT strategy.
This season, "we had built our team around the internationals. It is normal, they are the showcase of the club and they wear the colors of Toulon in the French team", recalled Collazo, accompanied by the president of the RCT Bernard Lemaître and its sports director Laurent Emmanuelli.
But the international "duplicates" and injuries convinced the leaders of the Var to change their plans by attracting players with little or no demand for selection.
Ten recruits were thus formalized as well as the extension for one year of the Italian third line Sergio Parisse as a player.
Among the foreign recruits are the English right pillar Kieran Brookes (ex-Wasps), the Irish second line of South African origin Quinn Roux (ex-Connacht) and the Australian second line Lopeti Timani (ex-La Rochelle).
To this list are added Fijian three-quarter Jiuta Wainiqolo, who is due to participate in the Tokyo Games (July 23 - August 8) in the VII tournament, and Scottish third row Cornell Du Preez.
Toulon also records the arrivals of scrum backs Julien Blanc (ex-Brive) and Jules Danglot (ex-Montpellier), from the back Thomas Salles (ex-Aurillac / ProD2), the return from loan of the opener Mathieu Smaïli ( ex-Mont-de-Marsan / ProD2) and the signing of second row Adrien Warion, loaned during the season by Aix-en-Provence (ProD2).
© 2021 AFP