Survival the name of game for Stade

AS approximately no one once said, a year is a long time in rugby. After the 17th round of the 2023/24 season, Stade Francais had 55 league points and proudly sat at the head of the Top 14 table.

- JAMES HARRINGTON

They would finish second, behind Toulouse, at the end of the regular season, and were denied a place in the Top 14 final by the width of an upright, after scoring an 81st-minute try in their semi-final against Bordeaux.

After their 24-6 thumping at Toulon last weekend, the 17th round of the 2024/25 season, they had 28 points - half as many as last season, almost to the point and were 14th in the table, the automatic relegation place, their Brennus hopes long dead. Survival is the only game in town at Stade Jean Bouin, with eight rounds of the campaign remaining.

That defeat at Stade Mayol last Saturday prompted another back-room reshuffle, the second of the season. Sporting director Laurent Labit, who had taken personal charge of the Paris side's attack in the inter-season, all-but crowning himself head coach in the process, stepped back from day-to-day team affairs.

Word is that he tendered his resignation, but owner Hans-Peter Wild and general manager Thomas Lombard rejected that particular offer, preferring continuity over a second senior coaching departure in a matter of months.

Their decision may be understandable, if reports in the British press about Paul Gustard, right, are accurate. Reports that he may decamp to Leicester at the end of the season broke days after Labit's recusal from day-to-day coaching officially handed him complete control of first team affairs at Stade Francais. Trust has arrived late - he was made head coach following Karim Ghezal's departure early on in the season, but the shadow and influence of Labit loomed domineeringly large. The absence of a coherent and solid gameplan was, reportedly, cited by players as a key part of the problem.