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Africa in Castres – An eventful week in Castres, in the southwest of France. The 7 best coaches of the African continent gathered for an intensive coaching workshop, with Adama Bakhoum Regional Training Manager and Mostafa Jelti Regional Development Officer.

Amady Diallo (Senegal) Mohamed Ali Hedi (Tunisia) Ricardo Loubscher (South Africa) Cyprian Mandenge (Zimbabwe) Roger Thompson (Namibia) Charles Ngovi (Kenya) and Noé Rakotoarivelo (Madagascar) participated in the second part of their World Rugby coaching training level 3 ; the first one having taken place in 2015 in Marcoussis (France).

From May 30th to June 3rd, they discovered the city of Castres for the very first time. This stronghold of French rugby welcomed them with buckets of rain, and the sun did not show up until the end of the week. But bad weather did nothing to dishearten our African coaches who still had an excellent time.

They spent most of their time at the Levezou training center, home of the Castres Olympique professional team currently competing in the French Top14’s quarterfinals. They were hosted by Michel Giacomini Director of the training center as well as Matthias Rolland CEO of the club. They were then treated to sessions delivered by top-quality speakers such as Romain Teulet, huge kicking specialist – record holder of the number of points kicked in a national championship with the same club ; Joe El Abd forward coach and Frédéric Charrier full back coach as well as Christophe Urios head coach of the team.

The set-up of the workshop allowed every trainee to exchange, ask questions and take notes. In spite of relatively different levels within the group, all were able to learn and take home valuable additional knowledge. This training course was also the opportunity to realize that in the end there is little difference between northern hemisphere rugby and that of the southern hemisphere. Castres Olympique as well as the other coaches could also take advantage of Ricardo Loubscher’s strong experience, as he used to be the Springboks full back coach during the last World Cup. An enriching interaction for all  indeed !

Our 7 coaches had a memorable experience in Castres despite the relentless rain and most importantly have received a valued diploma.

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