"We want to do even better with the new generation": a new project bringing hope to the RCT

Crossing over. Crossing the RCT Campus pitch and joining the "big kids" area. It's a dream for all the kids in the Espoirs category. And the recent examples of Marius Domon and Gaël Dréan, each coming off a successful season with the professional squad, allow them to easily fuel it.

Cédric Béal's protégés resumed training ahead of their elders on July 15th. They also attended a training camp in the Hautes-Alpes region to complete their first three weeks of hard work. It was an opportunity to build relationships, as a new generation recently joined the training center.

"We're starting a three-year project again ," confides Cédric Béal, head of the RCT training center. "This year, the mindset is different. It's about development and reconstruction." Between the juniors who are rising, the recruits who are arriving, the Espoirs who are getting closer to the big boys and the half-dozen players on loan, the group has indeed been stocked with new faces.

"I'm pretty happy with the guys who went with the pros, who will do the prep with them, and who will maybe play this year. It's a success for our first project and we want to do even better with the new generation," announced the technician.

Seven recruits… including one XXL

In addition to the kids who remained in the youth academy, five youngsters were promoted to the CF. Seven others arrived there, thus compensating for the five permanent departures during the offseason. "These are players with high potential, whom we took based on the needs of the professional team for the coming years. We particularly wanted power, versatility, and height in our forwards."

So the prop Arthur Maza (Valence-Romans), the second rows Enzo Jean (La Rochelle) and Tom Vinel (Montpellier), the third row Noam Moreau (Montpellier), the fly-half Lucas Bonneau (Provence Rugby) and the center Andrea Azzolin (Biarritz) have arrived. The remaining case is the great New Caledonian third row hopeful, Patrick Tuifua (Hawke's Bay), "a recruitment that is in fact completely professional." Because, "even if he is part of the training center, the objective is for him to play with the pros."

More loans, more pros?

For Cédric Béal, the future of the RCT is not only being built on campus. It is also being built in Nevers, Colomiers, Niort, Oyonnax and Chambéry, where six of his Espoirs have been loaned out. A higher figure than usual: "These are typically players we lost in previous years. They signed elsewhere, it worked, and we said to ourselves afterwards, 'Ah, maybe we should have kept them .' Loans save them from spending an extra year in the youth system. They can compete against adults in the professional league. And for us, it's a strategy for monitoring these players." As if the Espoirs management had thought of everything. Also, you don't reach the final of the French championship by snapping your fingers. Nor do you go, in one year, from last to ^5th place in the ranking of elite training centers, with a single wave of a magic wand. So, now it's just a matter of continuing the construction.

The training center's workforce

Left pillars: Léo Ametlla, Samuel Jean-Christophe, Ghiponi Anto-Natale ⁽¹⁾ .

Right pillars: Lohann Gil, Owen Sorhaindo, Arthur Maza , Davit Mtchelidze (loaned to Nevers).

Hookers: Pierre Damond, Jérémy Toevalu, Mathias Mazzoni ⁽¹⁾ .

Second row: Antonio Gamez, Corentin Mézou, Christian Mendes, Tom Vinel , Enzo Jean , Davit Baramia ⁽¹⁾ , Thomas Adelaïde (loaned to Colomiers).

Third row: Joé Quere-Karaba, Mikheili Shioshvili, Fabio Zingone, Jovan Sreckovic ⁽¹⁾ , Noé Soko ⁽¹⁾ , Patrick Tuifua , Noam Moreau , Marc Essoh (loaned to Chambéry).

Scrumhalfs: Giani Calleya, Edouard Sabotin-Desclaud.

Fly-halves: Finn Newton, Lucas Bonneau , Lohan Sabbia (loaned to Niort).

Centers: Kyllian Béal, Oliver Cowie, Andrea Azzolin .

Wingers: Matéo Gracieux, Barnabé Méchentel, Louis Morland (loaned to Oyonnax).

Fullback: Alberto Carmona (loaned to Colomiers).

1. Players promoted to the youth system. Recruits in italics.

Who will we see in the pros?

While Pierre Damond, Corentin Mézou, Joé Quere-Karaba, and Oliver Cowie have already had the opportunity to wear the RCT colors in the Top 14, other current members of the training center also joined Pierre Mignoni's squad during the summer preparation. Will they get their chance at the professional level this season? Time will tell. But according to Cédric Béal, some already have good assets to compete with the first team.

The former flanker explains: "There's left prop Léo Ametlla who, for everyone here at the club, is ready. It's up to him to be good when we call on him. There are also wingers, Matéo Gracieux and Barnabé Méchentel, who will stand out. Their big strengths are their ability to string together tasks, repeat high-intensity efforts and be strong under high balls." As for Owen Sorhaindo (right prop) and Fabio Zingone (third row), they could also start to show their faces.

The summer program

During this month of August, the Espoirs squad is split in two. One part of the group will continue to develop in 15s, while another will focus more on rugby sevens. Around ten of them will participate in the summer stages of the Supersevens, scheduled for August 16, 23 and 30, in Mont-de-Marsan, Dax and Pau.

The youth team from the training center should also be heavily involved on Friday, August 22, during the professional friendly match against Perpignan at Aimé-Giral. Some could also be involved in the match in Issoire, on August 29, against Clermont. Finally, a friendly match has been scheduled for August 30 for the Espoirs team. It will be against their counterparts from Valence-Romans, before the start of the season, scheduled for the weekend of September 13.