“Organization.” “Organization.” “Organization.” This will be the basis of the work for Sébastien Bertrank, who will be presented as the new national rugby coach on Monday. He succeeds Patrice Lagisquet, who has held the position since 2019 and led Wolves to their first ever World Cup victory, against the Fiji Islands (24-23) and will lead the Wolves for the next four years… until the World Cup of 2027. Cup is the big goal.
For the 53-year-old French coach, “Portugal’s World Cup was great”. Now we must honor the legacy of the predecessor and maintain the team’s identity, but with our own game ideas. Especially because the thinking behind how to evolve Portuguese rugby is a little different from Lagisquet’s. While Lagisquet defended professionalization as a basic requirement – “You cannot raise your level if you work all day and still have training in the evening,” he said in an interview with Expresso in March – Bertrank can see a lot of good things in semi-professionalization.
In a more affectionate speech and attitude than his compatriot who left command, Bertrank confessed that he had become a fan of Wolves, who “radiated happiness” on the pitch during the World Cup. And he believed this is largely due to the fact that “they have a life beyond rugby and don’t do it 24 hours a day” like professional players. One of the new coach’s missions is to get more Portuguese players to play in the national team in Portugal.
The new selector was presented at a sui generis press conference, with the president of the Portuguese Rugby Federation (FPR), Carlos Amado da Silva, introducing Sébastien Bertrank via video conference, while taking part in a World Rubny meeting in Paris, the coach spoke According to him, French to express themselves better and to convey the message in a well-contextualized manner. Bertrank was translated by Julien Bardy, the former Portugal international (from 2008 to 2015) who retired from playing in 2019 and is now vice-president of the Federation and was instrumental in signing the Frenchman. He will be the one to bridge the gap with the new selector.
Asked about his short- and long-term goals, the 53-year-old French coach was cautious but warned he wants to be at the next World Cup. If not by invitation from World Rugby via qualification: “Qualification for the 2027 World Cup is non-negotiable.” With Frederico Sousa, national technical director at his side, he also admitted that he wanted to put Portuguese rugby at the top of the best European teams, alongside the teams that are part of the Six Nations – at a time when that honor goes to Georgia goes, with whom Portugal participated. the World Cup (18-18).
In the first phase, Bertrank will not be exclusive and a large part of the work will be the responsibility of assistants Luís Pissarra and João Mira, who transfer from the technical team of Patrice Lagisquet, a name present during the press conference. The first call will be announced in a week and a half.
He has little experience as a coach, because he is busy training new coaches. He will take over a senior national team for the first time. He was previously a member of the French Rugby Federation, where he coached the youth and women’s teams, before taking on the role of sporting director at Carcassonne in 2011.
An excellent player strategist – he represented CA Brive and ASM Clermont and was captain of the French military team – he naturally focused on training and technical supervision after ending his career. Last year he took the position of training coordinator at the Montpellier Center for Resources, Knowledge and Sports Performance, a department of the French state’s continuous training institute for coaches and managers in the field of sports and public education.
Source: DN
