Bayonne keep Travers until 2030

After a turbulent first season and a twelfth-place finish, Laurent Travers is settling in for good in the Basque Country. Bayonne chose a strong start to the league to announce it.

The news was revealed by Canal+ on Sunday morning, then confirmed by Philippe Tayeb to L’Équipe, who settled the question of the length: “2030”. The Bayonne president nevertheless rejects the word: “I wouldn’t call it an extension. It validates what we signed a year ago.” Travers himself embraces it, telling Sud Ouest: “It’s an extension.”

Travers’s contract has changed several times since his arrival, announced in spring 2025 and effective on 1 July. “We had started on a certain length but, given what happened, I went back on it,” he explains. According to Philippe Tayeb, the decision was settled on Friday, before the trip to Racing.

A first season under strain

The former Racing 92 manager, a French champion with Castres in 2013 and with Racing in 2016, arrived against the wishes of Grégory Patat, then Bayonne’s manager. The partnership did not last: Patat left in February, now coaches Brive, and Gerard Fraser replaced him. Bayonne finished the 2025-26 season twelfth with 51 points, a year after reaching the play-offs.

Philippe Tayeb addressed the criticism aimed at his director of rugby: “Behind Laurent Travers there is a man, a family, children.” Fraser is also under contract until 2030.

189 days without an away win

Saturday’s 20-17 win at Créteil was Bayonne’s first away from Jean-Dauger since 21 March and a victory at Montauban (26-60). The Basques are fourth in the Top 14 on 13 points, with three wins from four matches, despite a heavy defeat at Pau (70-28) in round two.

The start does, however, look like last season’s. After four rounds, Bayonne had also won three times, including at Perpignan, before finishing twelfth. Gerard Fraser knows it: “We didn’t produce attractive rugby for the full 80 minutes. The key for us is to find that consistency.”

The coaching staff could still grow, with Philippe Tayeb acknowledging that former UBB defence coach Christophe Laussucq “could interest” the club. Bayonne host Stade Français on 3 October.