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As Lagisquet exits Portugal a 2-man shortlist emerges

Portugal Head Coach Patrice Lagisquet looks on during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between Australia and Portugal at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on October 01, 2023 in Saint-Etienne, France. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Esteban Meneses and Simon Mannix are in the race for Portugal’s head coach vacancy, with the decision to be made in the upcoming weeks.

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Fifty-two-year-old New Zealander Simon Mannix is currently coaching the French ProD2 side, Biarritz, after spells in Section Paloise, Singapore, and RC Bassin D’Arcachon, and he is seen as a credible choice due to his knowledge of France’s elite competitions, a central player pool for the present and future of the Lobos setup.

Esteban Meneses has been working for the past three months with the Portuguese Rugby Union, having joined it alongside Rodolfo Ambrósio and Daniel Hourcade as members of the staff, helping interim coach João Mirra in the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship 2024. His expertise as a national head coach and profound knowledge of the Emerging Nation environment are viewed as ideal to take on the job, but the process is far from being concluded.

Video Spacer

Richard Cockerill on facing RWC darlings Portugal

Richard Cockerill on the dangers of facing the attacking threats of Portugal

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Richard Cockerill on facing RWC darlings Portugal

Richard Cockerill on the dangers of facing the attacking threats of Portugal

More rumours about Patrice Lagisquet’s exit have been doing the rounds, but one thing is clear: the legendary Les Bleus player won’t be available to guide Portugal through another World Cup qualification.

Portugal Rugby Union president Carlos Amado da Silva revealed in a recent interview to Radio Alfa that “There were two and now three possible names to take the head coach job. They aren’t French, but they are based there and have deep knowledge about the Top14, ProD2, and the other French competitions.”

Portugal has been without a head coach since last October when Sébastien Bertrank resigned just two weeks after signing with the Lobos. With challenging Summer and Autumn windows on the horizon – the Springboks and Namibia in July, and Scotland, USA, and Samoa in November – the board will announce in the upcoming weeks who’s going to take Patrice Lagisquet’s mantle and guide the team in the race to earn a spot in the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

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1 Comment
M
Mzilikazi 244 days ago

Simon Mannix I met a few years ago when he was with Pau. He did pretty well there with a club that often struggles. He played once for the AB’s, at 10, and the game was lost to the French. He said that loss still haunts him.

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Hellhound 45 minutes ago
South Africa player ratings | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.


Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.


Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.


They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.


Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.


Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'They smelt it': Scott Robertson says Italy sensed All Blacks' vulnerability

No where to be seen OB!


The crosses for me for the year where (from memory);


This was a really hard one to nail down as the first sign of a problem, now that I've asked myself to think about it. I'd say it all started with his decision to not back form and fit players after all the injuries, and/or him picking players for the future, rather ones that could play right now.


First he doesn't replace Perofeta straight away (goes on for months in the team) after injury against England, second he falls back to Beauden Barrett to cover at fullback against Fiji, then he drops Narawa the obvious choice to have started, then he brings in Jordan too soon. That Barret selection (and to a lesser extent Bell's) set the tone for the year.


Then he didn't get the side up for Argentina. They were blown away and didn't look like they expected a fight and were well beaten despite the scoreline in my opinion. Worst performance of the year in the forth game and..


Basically the same problems were persistent, or even exaggerated, after that with the players he did select not given much of an opportunity, with this year having the most number of unused subs I can remember since the amateur days.


What I think I started to realise early on was that he didn't back himself and his team. I think he prepared the players well, don't get me wrong, but I'll credit him with making a conscious choice in tempering his ambition and instead choosing cohesion and to respect (the idea of it being important in himself and his players) experience first and foremost (after two tight games and that 4th game loss). I think he chose wrong in deciding not to be, and back, himself. Hard criticism.


And it played out by preferring Beauden to Dmac on the EOYT (though that may have been a planned move).


I hope I'm right, because going through all the little things of the season and coming up with these bullets, I've got to wonder when I say his last fault is one we have seen at the Crusaders, playing his best players into the ground. What I'm really scared of now is that not wanting a bit of freshness in this last game could be linked with all these other crosses that I want to put down to simple confidence issues. But are they really a sign that he just lacks vision?


Now, that's not to say I haven't seen a lot of positives as well, I just think that for the ABs to go where they want to go he has to fix these crosses. Just have difficult that will be is the question.

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