The (heavy) defeat too many.
After the stinging loss to the Michelin against the Leicester "Tigers" (44-29), ASM Clermont Auvergne announced the departure of its New Zealand manager Jono Gibbes, who had been in place since the 2021-2022 season.
The crisis had been brewing for some time in Auvergne, where ASM has won only one of its last five matches.
Barely in the Top 14 (only 10th), the Auvergne club is currently 8th in Group B in the Champions Cup with two losses for only one success, before a more than perilous trip on Saturday (6:30 p.m.) to Cape Town with the South African Stormers .
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Schedule and Top 14 results
Ranking Top 14
In a press release, the ASM indicated that
"this choice of change is part of a context where the ambitions always displayed by the club require taking new directions".
And to add:
“This decision is applicable immediately, which implies that Jono Gibbes will not be traveling to South Africa for next Saturday's match against the Stormers.
The current members of the sports staff will be responsible for managing this week of preparation.
From now on, the question arises as to who will take the reins of the Auvergne club.
Two names were mentioned: that of the Argentinian Mario Ledesma - former coach of the Argentinian Pumas but above all ex-hooker of Clermont with whom he raised the club's first Brennus in 2010 - and that of Christophe Urios, without a club since his departure of the Bordeaux-Bègles Union in mid-November.
Ledesma declines the offer
According to information from
Midi Olympique
, Ledesma would have declined the offer of ASM and Christophe Urios would be in pole position to take the post of manager.
The former technician from Oyonnax (passed from Pro D2 to the Top 14 play-offs) and Castres (2018 champion) should arrive very soon and work with the current staff, deprived of Xavier Sadourny, former coach of the three-quarters, who recently left the club.
Still according to
Midol
, he could only choose his staff from next season.
After leaving UBB, Urios wrote on Twitter at the end of December: “
My life is rugby and I will be back in action soon because I miss the competition
.
Discomfort makes me stronger.
In his social media post, Urios referenced former US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy saying, "'When it's tough to get ahead, it's the tough ones who get ahead.'
This experience will make me progress... for my new challenge.
See you soon at the edge of the field.
»
The name of Christophe Urios had, for a time, been mentioned to lead CA Brive, which had dismissed Jeremy Davidson in mid-October.
Finally, the Corrèze club called on Patrice Collazo, a former strongman from La Rochelle and Toulon.
Clermont specifies: “
As regards the future, decisions will be announced quickly in order to ensure the continuity of the sports project, and to restore a positive dynamic to the whole club, its partners and its supporters.
The announcement of the arrival of Christophe Urios in Auvergne, initially as a firefighter, should take place quickly.
