A work in progress

LAURENT Labit sits comfortably into a seat outside an auditorium at France Televisions, minutes after the Paris launch of the Heineken Cup.

The Montauban joint coach had just emerged from a room peopled with a section of the marquee players and coaches of French rugby, but while his club will carry the tag of bridesmaids into the tournament, they’re not content to just make up the numbers. Cliched but true.

When a roving mic was handed to Labit and then to Montauban’s captain, Marc Travers, during the launch, both spoke enthusiastically of taking their place at the top table of European rugby. In a pool of sharks, Montauban are the veritable minnows but they intend to enjoy their Heineken Cup moments against Munster, Clermont Auvergne and Sale.