Rugby – Baloise Section: Joe Simmonds, promises in the opening

It will already be 14^HFrom this department to develop in France. Almost necessary for a great player: only six of these ten crowned are…

It will already be 14^H From this department to develop in France. Almost essential to a great player: Only six of these ten crowned have never left to attack the Brenos in their football careers: Mike Catt (1998), David Humphries (1999), Austin Healey (2002), Andy Farrell (2016, 2017, 2019), Ronan O’Gara (2006, 2008) and Ali Hever, half of the Northampton Saints in 2000… who coached Symonds at Exeter.

Inevitably, it is expected. And the echoes that come from the locker room do nothing to lessen the impatience. Attack boss Jeffrey Lan-Betty assumes he couldn’t have asked for better than Simmonds. “It is exactly as I expected. The way you train is exactly the way I see coaching, the number 10 position and rugby” The discussions between GLP and its new opening promise to be rich: “We speak the same language as rugby.”

And they have the same principles: “Owning the ball, looking for free spaces when they’re there, creating it with players coming in from inside, three-way activities, which are done a lot in England and that match the way I’m coached by the New Zealanders. That’s the best I know. It’s good and we save a lot.” After a year in which the shadow of Antoine Hastoy took so long to dissipate, Pau seems able to pass the last of the seven stages of mourning: rebuilding.

Thibault Daubagna in any case evokes a profile suitable for the club’s development. “Joe Symonds, we feel that, he’s a very experienced player, he’s won trophies and has a lot of experience at the top level. He’s calm, in control, we feel he’s in his place tactically, technically he’s a very good player. He’ll bring us a lot of strength from Where’s the footwork, and his accuracy is also against the poles. I can’t wait to get started with him.”

“He adapts very quickly.”

It’s not about burning Zack Henry and selling Simmonds as a breakout opener. Lanne-Petit refuses to do so wholeheartedly: “Basically, they’re the same, they have the same culture but Joe has maintained and developed it at a much higher level than Zac, who left for France so early. But from the first training layouts and the two friendlies, the This two-tops experience is observable. Le Hameau should have a 10 of such caliber that GLP lifts the veil.”He’s a player who plays big on the line, has a very strong strategic approach, and loves structured play. And in structure, having a large part of taking the lead. He has a very accurate kicking game. He is a very good individual player and he adapts very quickly to the game plan.

“He knows how to win.”

A boon for the young guard: “It’s exactly on the record that I ask young men in their apprenticeships for this position. They’ll see it first hand and use it on a daily basis,” GLP guesses. “He’s a real leader, he brings a lot of serenity when it comes to managing emotions. In momentum, he’s calm and level-headed. It’s a point we had to improve on and I think it will bring us a lot. We also need in a team to have guys like that who know how to win, they used to Be in strong teams. He is a good example and a man to follow, ”continues Thomas Carroll.

At the moment, Joe Simmonds seems shy. “It’s normal, he’s just arrived, and he has to adapt: ​​it’s a change and the language is not easy, laughs Dupaña. We try to integrate him as much as possible, but I think he won’t take long to find his bearings.” First dance in Castries.