Two candidates to succeed Shaun Edwards, and one criterion that does not seem to have carried much weight: what each of them has done with his club’s defence.
Two pieces of news within a few hours
On Thursday afternoon, Joan Caudullo opened the door at a press conference. The Montpellier head coach agreed that Geoffrey Doumayrou, his defence coach, could work with France during international windows while keeping his role at the club. MHR had even planned ahead for his absences in November.
A few hours later, Midi Olympique reported that Christophe Laussucq had moved ahead in the race to succeed Shaun Edwards, who was dropped from the France staff in the spring. The two reports do not quite contradict each other: Montpellier say yes, the federation looks elsewhere.
What got in the way
Two obstacles have been mentioned. Geoffrey Doumayrou does not hold the DES, the coaching diploma the FFR requires of its technical staff, which reportedly raised reservations internally. The solution then considered was to give him a consultant’s role during squad gatherings.
Above all, it was the arrangement itself that seems to have stalled. Jean-Marc Lhermet, who is in charge of the France team at the federation, reportedly failed to reach an agreement with the Hérault club. Christophe Laussucq, on the other hand, has been free of any commitment since Union Bordeaux-Bègles released him from the final year of his contract. His availability alone solves the problem posed by the other candidacy.
The best defence in the Top 14 against the seventh
The numbers read the choice differently. Geoffrey Doumayrou joined the Montpellier staff on 1 July 2024. In the season before his arrival, MHR had conceded 655 points in twenty-six rounds, the ninth-best defence in the league, and survived via the relegation play-off.
His first season lifted the club to third place defensively, with 609 points conceded. The second put them top of the Top 14, with 587 points conceded in twenty-six matches, or 22.6 per game, the best total of the season ahead of Stade Toulousain. Montpellier went on to reach the final.
Christophe Laussucq had been in charge of Union Bordeaux-Bègles’ defence since 2023. The Gironde side finished with the fifth-best defence in the Top 14 in 2023-2024, third in 2024-2025, then seventh last season with 719 points conceded, 27.7 per match. The trajectory is the reverse of Montpellier’s.
A defence obviously comes down to more than its coach, and UBB play a running game that leaves them more exposed than MHR. The fact remains that over the last two seasons, the gap between the two clubs is five points conceded per match, in favour of the one whose coach was passed over.
A Montpellier staff on the move
All this comes a day after Joan Caudullo’s contract extension until 2029 was made official. Appointed in June 2024 after a relegation play-off won in Grenoble, the former hooker led the club to last season’s Top 14 final.
Around him, the staff is being reshaped. According to L’Équipe, Didier Bès, in charge of the scrum, and Jérémy Valls, kicking consultant, will not be kept on at the end of the season. Joan Caudullo, for his part, wants to extend Geoffrey Doumayrou beyond 2027. The federation’s decision, expected in the coming days, may make that easier for him.
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