Travers (53) will take a step back to become "chairman of the management board", explained the current boss of Racing 92 Jacky Lorenzetti.

Lorenzetti, he will be "always the main shareholder but it is Laurent Travers who will ensure the daily operation of the club".

Lancaster (52), who signed up for four years after being announced to be back with England for a time, is therefore arriving in France "from July 1".

"We wanted to bring a new way of working, to give a boost and a different vision. We received a lot of applications. We chose Stuart Lancaster", explained Travers.

"He corresponds to what we were looking for: he knows the very high level, set up the England game project, chained titles with Leinster ... He has a lot of experience", continued Travers .

Coach of the XV de la Rose between 2011 and 2015, with whom he was eliminated in the group stage, the former third line wing had been assistant coach of Leinster since 2016.

Lancaster has notably won the Pro 14 four times (2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021), the championship of the Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Italian and South African provinces.

Lancaster, also 2018 European champion with the teammates of Jonathan Sexton, will therefore become the fifth coach of Racing 92 of the Lorenzetti era after Pierre Berbizier, Gonzalo Quesada, the duo Laurent Travers-Laurent Labit then Travers alone after the departure of Labit for the Blues.

'Toto' chair

"The first thought was how do we ensure that Racing 92 keeps this same level of quality of rugby, of quality of men? How to ensure that 92 remains at the highest level?", justified Lorenzetti.

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"I don't want to die on the boards so I intend to reduce the volume of my activities. But, rest assured, at Racing, there is no crisis", explained Lorenzetti again.

In the Hauts-de-Seine, Stuart Lancaster will notably team up with Thibault Giroud, current performance director of the XV of France which he leaves at the end of the 2023 World Cup.

"I know the responsibilities that will be mine at the head of this extraordinary squad, certainly one of the most competitive in Europe. I look forward to working with all these players of great talent to accompany me in my mission", affirmed the English technician in the Racing 92 press release.

Under the leadership of 'Toto', Racing 92 played fifteen quarter-finals, nine semi-finals and four finals.

For a single title, the Top 14, in 2016. "We can be choosy but we prefer to emphasize continuity", assured Lorenzetti again.

But, while waiting to hand over, there is still a season to play.

"I hope to end in apotheosis", assured Travers, "excited" by "this new experience".

"We still have a season to play, we still have matches and in particular a match on Saturday in La Rochelle," he recalled.

© 2022 AFP