The main recruit of Racing 92 for the 2020-2021 season is called… Gaël Fickou.
But the international center arrived in advance at the end of April, from the neighboring Stade Français, after an agreement between the two clubs.
For the rest, even if a last transfer is not to be excluded, we should not necessarily expect other big names for this transfer window in the club which ended the season without a title, beaten in the semi-final of the Top 14 by La Rochelle (19-6), two weeks ago in Lille. Racing 92 has nevertheless announced the arrival of the second international line Baptiste Pesenti (23 years old, 2 caps), currently on tour with the XV of France in Australia. The other arrival is in fact a return: that of the 30-year-old Fijian opener, Ben Volavola, who was loaned this season to Perpignan, champion of ProD2, and therefore returns to the Ciel et Blanc.
These two recruits compensate for the departures of five players, transferred or at the end of the contract: the three-quarters François Trinh-Duc (Bordeaux-Bègles) and Simon Zebo (Munster), the second lines Dominic Bird (Hurricanes, New Zealand) and Donnacha Ryan (retired, should join the staff of La Rochelle), and third row Antonie Claassen.
According to our information, Argentinian rear Emiliano Boffelli will not be kept either.
THANK YOU 💙 François, Antonie, Dominic, Donnacha, Simon and our hopes, Arthur, Alix, Ruben, Tom, Stéphan, Juan, Max, Matteo and Artemy!
#RacingFamily pic.twitter.com/T60Ovv0miJ
- Racing 92 (@ racing92) June 30, 2021
On the staff side, the main movement concerns the forwards coach. The Argentinian Patricio Noriega leaves Racing 92, where he is replaced by Didier Casadéi. The former 50-year-old pillar, who coached Brive forwards for 10 years before leading the Périgueux team (Federal 1) last season, therefore joins manager Laurent Travers, who was his former teammate on the front line at Brive.