THIS WILL BE Irishman Jeremy Davidson’s last season in charge of Castres, the club he played for between his two tours with the Lions in 1997 and 2001.
Top 14 side Castres have already confirmed that 50-year-old Davidson will move on at the end of this campaign, with current attack coach Xavier Sadourny stepping up as his successor on a three-year deal.
Castres president Pierre-Yves Revol told L’Équipe that the club has previously had great success by appointing coaches who have “everything to prove at the highest level” and Sadourny will be in that bracket as he takes on his first head coach role.
It’s hard not to think that Davidson – who is currently preparing his men for Friday night’s Champions Cup clash with Munster in Castres – remains underappreciated, all the more so back home in Ireland. Aside from a couple of years as an assistant in his native Ulster, the 50-year-old’s coaching career has been in France, so they have a greater understanding of his qualities.
Last season was Davidson’s first full campaign as the head coach of Castres, who gave him his first taste of professional coaching when he joined them as an assistant all the way back in 2007 after a few years with Dungannon RFC.
Castres just missed out on the Top 14 play-offs last season, pipped by Racing 92 only on points difference.
Castres Olympique are something of a modern-day rugby wonder. The town of Castres is relatively tiny, with only 43,000 people living there, most of them rugby-mad.
Despite the humble setting, Castres are relentlessly ambitious. The late, great owner Pierre Fabre – the club’s stadium bears his name – lifted the club to its current heights. A billionaire on account of co-founding one of France’s pharmaceutical giants, Laboratoires Pierre Fabre, he was deeply passionate about the rugby club.
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Fabre passed away in July 2013, just weeks after Castres had won the club’s fourth Top 14 title, their first in a decade and the perfect tribute to him. They added another title in 2018 and were beaten finalists as recently as 2022.
So although they haven’t featured as contenders in the Champions Cup since getting to the semi-finals in 2002, little old Castres are fighting hard to remain a force in the Top 14.
Davidson took over in February 2023. Andy Watts / INPHO
Andy Watts / INPHO / INPHO
Anyone who has visited Stade Pierre Fabre knows how tough a place it is to win, how aggressively Castres defend their home patch. This is a town that truly embodies l’esprit de clocher - the spirit of the bell tower – that is such a trope in French rugby.
Revol was Fabre’s right-hand man in business and rugby, so he keeps his good friend’s spirit alive through CO.
Davidson is a well-liked figure thanks to his association with the club as a player and coach but they will go their separate ways at the end of this season. It must have been a tough pill to swallow after guiding Castres so close to the play-offs last season, finishing above the likes of Lyon, Montpellier, and Clermont.
Davidson, who won 32 caps in green, has been out of the Irish limelight for a long time now. When he left Ulster in 2011, he took over at Pro D2 club Aurillac, an even smaller town of 26,000 people.
For six years, he operated with a tiny budget yet consistently had Aurillac punching above their weight in the second tier. Davidson was smart with his recruitment and style of play, finding value and results where others missed them.
He took the jump into the Top 14 as forwards coach for Bordeaux in 2017/18 before landing the head coach gig at Brive a year later.
The one-time Heineken Cup champions had dropped into the Pro D2 but Davidson led them back up at the first time of asking and kept them in the top flight for the next three seasons, a fine feat given the ferocious competitiveness of France’s first tier.
But only seven games into the Top 14 campaign of 2022/23, Davidson exited following heavy defeats to Toulon and Toulouse. It seemed a little premature and Brive were duly relegated at the end of the season.
Davidson in 2010 during his time as an Ulster assistant coach. Darren Kidd
Darren Kidd
Davidson wasn’t out of work long as he took over at struggling Castres in February 2023, steadying the ship as they finished ninth before making obvious improvements last season as the Irish boss once again showed his smarts in recruitment.
Castres are currently seventh in the Top 14, just one point behind Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle and Davidson will be pushing as hard as possible to make the play-offs before he hands over to Sadourny.
While Castres have lost their five away games this season, they’ve won all six of their games at Stade Pierre Fabre, beating high-flying Toulouse, Racing 92, and La Rochelle in their fortress. Munster will need a big performance.
Davidson rested lots of frontliners for last weekend’s Champions Cup defeat away to Northampton but Castres won’t be rolling over meekly for their Irish visitors on Friday night, even if they have a big Top 14 clash against Bordeaux to come next weekend.
The likes of All Blacks centre Jack Goodhue, England international tighthead Will Collier, France hooker Gaëtan Barlot, lock Paul Jedrasiak, former Connacht number eight Abraham Papali’i, and Fiji international back Vilimoni Botitu are among those who weren’t involved in Northampton but some may return.
Munster are expecting a battle royale against les bleu et blanc and Davidson will have his men as well prepared as ever to make their visitors fight for every inch.
There is plenty of road left in this final season with Castres but it will be intriguing to see where the underrated Davidson turns up next in his fascinating coaching journey. He has forged his own path so far.
Irishman Davidson continues to forge his own path in France
THIS WILL BE Irishman Jeremy Davidson’s last season in charge of Castres, the club he played for between his two tours with the Lions in 1997 and 2001.
Top 14 side Castres have already confirmed that 50-year-old Davidson will move on at the end of this campaign, with current attack coach Xavier Sadourny stepping up as his successor on a three-year deal.
Castres president Pierre-Yves Revol told L’Équipe that the club has previously had great success by appointing coaches who have “everything to prove at the highest level” and Sadourny will be in that bracket as he takes on his first head coach role.
It’s hard not to think that Davidson – who is currently preparing his men for Friday night’s Champions Cup clash with Munster in Castres – remains underappreciated, all the more so back home in Ireland. Aside from a couple of years as an assistant in his native Ulster, the 50-year-old’s coaching career has been in France, so they have a greater understanding of his qualities.
Last season was Davidson’s first full campaign as the head coach of Castres, who gave him his first taste of professional coaching when he joined them as an assistant all the way back in 2007 after a few years with Dungannon RFC.
Castres just missed out on the Top 14 play-offs last season, pipped by Racing 92 only on points difference.
Castres Olympique are something of a modern-day rugby wonder. The town of Castres is relatively tiny, with only 43,000 people living there, most of them rugby-mad.
Despite the humble setting, Castres are relentlessly ambitious. The late, great owner Pierre Fabre – the club’s stadium bears his name – lifted the club to its current heights. A billionaire on account of co-founding one of France’s pharmaceutical giants, Laboratoires Pierre Fabre, he was deeply passionate about the rugby club.
Fabre passed away in July 2013, just weeks after Castres had won the club’s fourth Top 14 title, their first in a decade and the perfect tribute to him. They added another title in 2018 and were beaten finalists as recently as 2022.
So although they haven’t featured as contenders in the Champions Cup since getting to the semi-finals in 2002, little old Castres are fighting hard to remain a force in the Top 14.
Anyone who has visited Stade Pierre Fabre knows how tough a place it is to win, how aggressively Castres defend their home patch. This is a town that truly embodies l’esprit de clocher - the spirit of the bell tower – that is such a trope in French rugby.
Revol was Fabre’s right-hand man in business and rugby, so he keeps his good friend’s spirit alive through CO.
Davidson is a well-liked figure thanks to his association with the club as a player and coach but they will go their separate ways at the end of this season. It must have been a tough pill to swallow after guiding Castres so close to the play-offs last season, finishing above the likes of Lyon, Montpellier, and Clermont.
Davidson, who won 32 caps in green, has been out of the Irish limelight for a long time now. When he left Ulster in 2011, he took over at Pro D2 club Aurillac, an even smaller town of 26,000 people.
For six years, he operated with a tiny budget yet consistently had Aurillac punching above their weight in the second tier. Davidson was smart with his recruitment and style of play, finding value and results where others missed them.
He took the jump into the Top 14 as forwards coach for Bordeaux in 2017/18 before landing the head coach gig at Brive a year later.
The one-time Heineken Cup champions had dropped into the Pro D2 but Davidson led them back up at the first time of asking and kept them in the top flight for the next three seasons, a fine feat given the ferocious competitiveness of France’s first tier.
But only seven games into the Top 14 campaign of 2022/23, Davidson exited following heavy defeats to Toulon and Toulouse. It seemed a little premature and Brive were duly relegated at the end of the season.
Davidson wasn’t out of work long as he took over at struggling Castres in February 2023, steadying the ship as they finished ninth before making obvious improvements last season as the Irish boss once again showed his smarts in recruitment.
Castres are currently seventh in the Top 14, just one point behind Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle and Davidson will be pushing as hard as possible to make the play-offs before he hands over to Sadourny.
While Castres have lost their five away games this season, they’ve won all six of their games at Stade Pierre Fabre, beating high-flying Toulouse, Racing 92, and La Rochelle in their fortress. Munster will need a big performance.
Davidson rested lots of frontliners for last weekend’s Champions Cup defeat away to Northampton but Castres won’t be rolling over meekly for their Irish visitors on Friday night, even if they have a big Top 14 clash against Bordeaux to come next weekend.
The likes of All Blacks centre Jack Goodhue, England international tighthead Will Collier, France hooker Gaëtan Barlot, lock Paul Jedrasiak, former Connacht number eight Abraham Papali’i, and Fiji international back Vilimoni Botitu are among those who weren’t involved in Northampton but some may return.
Munster are expecting a battle royale against les bleu et blanc and Davidson will have his men as well prepared as ever to make their visitors fight for every inch.
There is plenty of road left in this final season with Castres but it will be intriguing to see where the underrated Davidson turns up next in his fascinating coaching journey. He has forged his own path so far.
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