“We are disappointed”: Joan Caudullo, manager of MHR, confides in Mohamed Haouas' excesses

MHR coach Joan Caudullo spoke at length about Mohamed Haouas' excesses last Sunday, this Tuesday, December 10, in a press conference.

Joan Caudullo did not escape. After the new excesses of Mohamed Haouas revealed in the press this Monday, the MHR coach did not dodge the exercise of the press conference. On the contrary. Questioned on the subject, he answered frankly on what he thought of the situation and the future steps concerning the player.

Do you have easier Mondays to approach ?

After a victory (against Newport, 14-18), yes, it is certain that I have experienced better Mondays.

How did the day go. Were you aware of the matter before all the players arrived at the club? ?

Yes, we were informed a little before. Then, we met with Bernard (Laporte) and with the management to find out what had to be done.

We also talked to the leaders. Very quickly, we saw that it was coming out in the press. We had to inform the players. We have a leader group, every Monday morning, that starts our week. And he wanted to see Momo. Then, we received him with Bernard.

“He was supposed to play this weekend”

What was decided?

He disappointed us with his behavior. Momo or not Momo, it was still important to sanction him. So there will be a precautionary suspension. We'll see how it goes, there is also a person who decides in our club called Mohed Altrad. Our president will tell us what to do. He's the one who gave Momo this second chance, so it's important to have his opinion.

He was supposed to play this weekend against the Ospreys but he will not play this match. He will not train until further notice. He will also be financially sanctioned. We cannot let this type of behavior go by in our club. We have other fish to fry and above all we want to continue to do well, to win this match against the Ospreys. That is what interests me today.

Mohed Altrad had declared, in June, that at the slightest problem, he would leave. Should he play again for Montpellier ?

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Frankly, I have not discussed these subjects with the president. We will see how it goes. I am not minimizing or emphasizing what he did. There are people, judges, who judge that. Me, today, I am on the short term and what will happen Saturday against the Ospreys.

We'll see about the rest. That's what we told him with Bernard. It was important for me because he's a player who was trained at the club, important, who was international. He has an image to maintain. We are very disappointed with this behavior.

Do you still want to “accompany him” ?

There are people around him who are very disappointed. I am. Afterwards, I want to communicate with him. Of course I want to help him. Afterwards, will the management decide not to continue with him anymore ? As for me, today, I am hanging on this decision. I have an opinion, it will remain private. We'll see what the president says.

Aren't you afraid that it will upset the team's dynamics ?

No, because the players wanted to see it and I think that in their minds, they have turned the page. They are well trained today, so I don't see any problem with that for them in any case.

The club's image is taking a hit while you were trying to restore it…

Everything remains precarious. I hear everywhere about the problems that all clubs have. But there are a lot of cases at the moment. What I would like is for people to talk a lot more about rugby than about these cases.

I speak in Montpellier and elsewhere and it's true that we are quite affected by this. When you are a professional rugby player, you can't behave like that, harm the image of our sport. Afterwards, it's up to us, me, as a sports manager, to take care of rugby and make sure that it's done well with guys who want to carry out this project. I can only control that. I am affected, like all of you, by these cases and this case which is more than annoying.

Mohamed Haouas, was he showing positive signals since his return this summer ?

For the record, after a party, he was the one who brought back someone who had perhaps been drinking a little, one of his colleagues. I congratulated him on that. At other times, it could have been the opposite. I found him to be enormously positive. I thought he had stopped all that bullshit. It's a shame, I'm disappointed like when we're disappointed in our children. It bothers me a lot because I had confidence in him.