Agen axes coach after 'intolerable' loss
TOP 14 NEWS: Christophe Laussucq was sacked as manager of Agen on Sunday, a day after a humiliating 5-71 capitulation to Bordeaux-Begles.
“From this day, Christophe Laussucq and Remi Vaquin are no longer the manager and coach of #agen_rugby,” Agen president Jean-Francois Fonteneau tweeted.
Fonteneau lambasted his players after Saturday’s defeat – a seventh consecutive loss which leaves them adrift and relegation-bound at the foot of the table – threatening fines as punishment for the “intolerable” performance which left the side’s captain in tears.
“I was scandalised by the players’ attitude. I’m considering punishing the team financially,” Fonteneau earlier tweeted.
“It’s intolerable that the team shows no respect as our sponsors and fans support us economically during this anxious time,” added the Agen boss who estimates each home match held behind closed doors in the latest coronavirus lockdown is costing the club €500,000 (US$583,874).
Laussucq was almost lost for words after their heaviest ever defeat to the side who led the table before last season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve got nothing to say about our pathetic performance,” he said Saturday.
“I’m sorry for everyone who supports us and doesn’t have any reaction to give on the nothingness of this.”
A tearful Agen captain Romain Briatte told Canal+: “We are really in a rough patch.”
Laussucq, 47, didn’t join the squad in returning to Agen by bus after Saturday’s game, instead staying in the Bordeaux region from where he hails.
The ex-international scrumhalf was named as Agen manager in 2019 after six seasons at ProD2 outfit Mont-de-Marsan in the same role.
His overall Agen record stands at five wins, a draw and 18 defeats.
Former back row forward Vaquin, 37, joined the team’s coaching staff after hanging up his boots in 2017, firstly looking after touch before becoming forwards coach alongside Laussucq in 2019.
Agen, with just one bonus point to their name, are at home for their next two games against fourth-placed Lyon and Eben Etzebeth’s Toulon.
