After three consecutive victories in the Top 14 and a place at the top of the rankings, Montpellier is on the right track

The bonus victory against Bayonne (42-10) places the MHR at the top of the table after 14 days in the Top 14. The results before the interlude in Challenge. 

In less than six months, the MHR has experienced a real renaissance with the arrival of a new staff and the emergence of leaders. Now firmly established in the first half of the table, Montpellier is looking upwards.

251 points conceded

Montpellier is in 2nd place for the best defenses behind Toulouse. A performance when you know where this team comes from. It is also the reward for the work carried out by the staff and the new defense coach, Geoffrey Doumayrou. It is also the reflection of a state of mind, that of a team that has regained confidence. “Compared to the first leg, when a team like that is confident, it masters its fundamentals so well. Today, this team is a strong contender for the top six places”, notes Gregory Patat, the manager of Bayonne, beaten 42-10 on Saturday.

The Top 14 ranking

100th for Arthur Vincent

For his hundredth match in the colours of his training club, Arthur Vincent, his forehead covered in blood, paid with his person. The centre originally from Mauguio is, in himself, a symbol of this club. And of the policy that Joan Caudullo wants to put in place.

“For me, it's important to have young players who are coming up and who are arriving. We have a 15-year-old player who spent the week with us called Souheib Benabdelkader, who has great potential, contacted by all the clubs in France. Today, he will stay with us. He announced it to us after the match. I don't know if I'm not more proud of that than of this victory today. Because the project is extremely important. The short term is important so that we are alive all the time. But the medium-long term, for us at Montpellier, is to restore our image, to have a training center that works well, that, for me, is something important”, confided the Hérault manager.

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Who for the number 9 position ?

Respectively injured in the ribs and thigh, Cobus Reinach and Léo Coly will not play in the Challenge. The young and promising Alexis Bernadet should therefore be lined up against Newcastle. Behind him, the staff is counting on the young Aurélien Barreau, a fly-half by training. Unless George Bridge, who provided the last 20 minutes against Bayonne, shows up. But it is not certain that the All Black is really a candidate…

44 penalties obtained

The top team in the Top 14 in this area, Montpellier has a secret weapon: its scrum. On Saturday, it demonstrated this again by recovering six penalties in this sector. “Each scrum, for them, they had a penalty, so a free ball”, sighs Gregory Patat. The conquest perfectly symbolizes the work done since the start of the season. A very compartmentalized work where each coach works without ever encroaching on the domain of another. A complementarity and an organization that allowed the players to fully develop their potential.

“In my staff, I have technicians and I have good coaches who today allow the team to play well. The guys work hard, are fully committed to this project, assures Joan Caudullo. But I also talk about video analysts, physical preparation, our team manager… I have the feeling that they are all behind this project to move it forward. And necessarily, to win matches, we need the players.”

726 minutes played

The playing time of Billy Vunipola, who played each of the 14 Top 14 matches. The Englishman is the symbol of successful recruitment bets. Announced as aging, the third row turned out to be in top form and a natural leader, quickly promoted to captain.

“Putting Billy Vunipola as captain was a big gamble. We hesitated. A player who doesn't speak French, who has been at the club for a month… But we really wanted to stop talking about what happened the year before”, explains Caudullo. Like the Scot Stuart Hogg, who came out of retirement and had two international-class matches, the contribution of Hounkpatin or Uelese in the scrum, the recruits brought what was missing to this team, while pulling their teammates up.

Montpellier can now talk about something other than staying up.

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