Rugby: memories of Morgan Champagne, trainer of nuggets in Massy

Massy is still standing.

The Essonnian rugby club, relegated from Pro D2 in 2019, left with a new staff in 2020 but disturbed by the Covid, then author of a chaotic start to the season, returned to the race for the final stages in the National championship, ProD2 antechamber, at the start of the year.

He now needs to fill up on points during the last five days of the championship, to try to grab one of the first 4 places.

And it starts this Saturday at 5 p.m. behind closed doors at the Jules-Ladoumègue stadium with the reception of Suresnes, the neighbor of Hauts-de-Seine.

A derby and an end of the season with a particular taste for Morgan Champagne.

The director of rugby and the Massy training center will indeed leave the club this summer.

The end of a 14-year adventure made up of ups and downs, and marked by the many young talents that he has fostered with his team of trainers, now renowned throughout France.

“I'm leaving to find the land that I miss.

It was not the presidential will here, he tells us.

It is time to move on.

"From these 14 years of" emotional lift ", Morgan Champagne will keep the highlights, the titles, the commitment of volunteers but also all these players trained in Massy and" many still give news ".

Because this former scrum-half who started training at the age of 18 at RC Choisy-Créteil with a certain Mathieu Bastareaud, did the accounts.

Currently in the workforce of the Top 14 and Pro D2, it is not less than 37 players who have passed through Massy.

"It's huge, we have trained more players than half of the professional clubs," said Morgan Champagne.

Example last weekend after the Stade Français - Clermont match in Top 14. Four players from both teams pose with a smile on the lawn of the Jean-Bouin stadium: Lester Etien, Judicaël Cancoriet, Sekou Macalou and Daniel Bibi -Biziwu have all been through Massy.

The Essonnien club was already known for having "released" players like Mathieu Bastareaud (32 years old, 54 caps), today in Lyon.

Currently, several other nuggets selected with the XV of France or at its door are also made in Massy: Yacouba Camara and Gabriel N'Gandebe (Montpellier), Cameron Woki (Bordeaux), Julien Delbouis (Stade français) or Jordan Joseph (Racing 92) ).

Enough to make a team that would look good in the Top 14 ...

💛🌸💛🌸 @ RCME91 pic.twitter.com/GcxZ8rSrDx

- Berroi (@PeioBerho) March 27, 2021

Teamwork and networks

“There is frustration to see them leave, but it's the system, breathes Morgan Champagne.

I'm happy for them, that's for sure.

But that's also one of the reasons I quit ”.

If he would prefer to train to find the field ("I have some contacts"), Morgan Champagne knows well that his qualities as a trainer could also be of interest elsewhere.

“There is no real recipe, however, he assures.

It is fundamental work.

We watch a lot of games, we travel on a lot of fields, we do detection days, and we cross opinions ”.

Because training is teamwork and networking.

“For example, it was a friend in the Val-d'Oise who spotted Sekou Macalou in Sarcelles, while he was doing athletics,” he explains.

I was told:

he needs a structure to progress.

You should take it from Massy, ​​it will be fine.

He arrived as a cadet with us and he arrived where he is ”, that is to say in the France team (3 selections) and holder at the Stade Français.

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Massy also benefits from a “geographical and historical context”, continues Morgan Champagne: “we have been a training club for a long time, with a safe family environment for young people who come from all over Ile-de-France.

And we turned to this path when the pro clubs were turning away from it a bit.

We have the skills.

Today, almost everyone copies us ”.