Cotter's conundrum saving the best till last
VERN COTTER has led his ASM Clermont to an astounding 74 consecutive home victories in all conditions and consistent appearances in the knock-out stages of either the Top 14 or the Heineken Cup. And yet he isn’t a universally popular figure amongst their supporters.
Certainly in Ireland and the UK, he is a highly-respected and sought after coach, underlined by the fact Scotland were happy to sign him as their new head coach while he still had a year left on his contract and they appointed Scott Johnson on a caretaker role; content to wait for Cotter to finish with ASM in June.
Cotter’s pedigree is impressive, having played in France for a number of clubs (mainly in the second division) and he speaks the language which is very important. He had been head coach with the Bay of Plenty for five years before being appointed forwards coach with the Crusaders for two seasons, winning two Super Rugby titles. He won a Top 14 title with Clermont in 2010 with Joe Schmidt as his assistant, but given the quality of players and the resources that the club provide, many here in France feel that they have under-performed. They have been guilty of playing some of their best rugby from September to April, but then failing to adapt or step up to the intensity of knock-out rugby.
Having knocked Leinster out at the group stages last season and managing to sneak through against Munster in Montpellier in the Heineken Cup semi-final, they were odds on to beat Toulon in the final in Dublin. But despite being in a strong position with just 10 minutes to go, they couldn’t close the deal. Having taken off their captain Aurelein Rougerie and kickers Brock James and Morgan Parra, Clermont were unable to get the drop-kick or penalty that would have secured the trophy. They compounded this loss by losing the Top 14 semi-final a week later to Castres in another game in which they were again hot favourites.
Cotter criticised his players in public in a French newspaper and there were rumours that he was on the verge of resigning to be in a position to take up the Scotland job last summer, offering the same lead in time to the Rugby World Cup as his friend Joe Schmidt. However, the club convinced him to see out the project and they will certainly be aiming to turn that investment into trophies. With Cotter leaving in the summer, it’s odds-on that some of the players that have been pivotal to his regime will too. Nathan Hines, Regan King, Lee Byrne, Sitivini Sivivatu and Gerard Vosloo are some of those departing. The unspoken word is that Clermont need to ensure they all go out with a bang.
They have a tradition in Clermont surrounding the last home game of the season, where departing players and staff stand in the middle of the pitch after the final whistle and say their goodbyes. That’s always a better experience if you have a trophy to show off.
Regardless of whether Cotter should have won more trophies at Clermont, he steadied the ship and gave them direction. Before he came they were a side in constant turmoil but after his eight-season tenure the club has had the environment to put structures in place on and off the field. Now they are one of the most professional outfits in Europe.
Cotter’s reputation is one of a hard taskmaster. He demands excellence and admits that the doesn’t like people who cut corners and pushes his players to the limit. He is from farming stock in New Zealand and he recently bought a farm on the North Island where he hopes to retire to and “watch his cows grow fat”.
Clermont have a home quarter-final tomorrow against a team in the Leicester Tigers with real tradition in Europe but without a final appearance since 2009. The Tigers have hit form over the past month and they will have no fear going to the Stade Michelin. They took great delight in being the first team to win at Thomond Park in the Heineken Cup in 2007 and a chance to knock out ASM and make a Heineken Cup semi-final will motivate them no end.
ASM have a very big physical set of forwards, although the missing hooker Benjamin Kayser will be a loss. Their pack love to pick and go around the fringes but are also capable of off-loading in traffic — it’s from that unstructured type of play that they score most of their tries. Their Fijian wingers, Nalaga and Sivivatu, are as big and powerful a duo as any pair in Europe and the most dangerous thing about them is that it’s so hard to predict where they will turn up in attack as they have a licence to roam the field.
Clermont should make it through the weekend but face an away semi-final if they do. With the Top 14 never so competitive, I wouldn’t bank on Vern getting the send-off he deserves.
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