Stade Treillierain will play in Régionale 1 this season. Promotion means the Loire-Atlantique club must set up a reserve team, with no juniors to feed it.

The Loire-Atlantique club did not take a break this summer. Fitness training resumed at the start of August, around ten new players have signed, and the question still hanging is the reserve team, which is compulsory at the higher level. We spoke to club president Thomas Cingarlini.

Around ten arrivals, twice as many needed

Is pre-season living up to your expectations?

The off-season and pre-season have been very busy, with everyone at the club and the players involved, and we didn’t stop this summer, especially so we could prepare physically as well as possible. That fitness work resumed at the start of August. Purely in terms of preparation or commitment, we’re on track, so to speak. Régionale 1 means a reserve team, which means recruiting, and that can prove a bit more complicated. You know, we don’t have juniors at our club yet, so we can’t count on that age group to come through and strengthen the senior team, which means for now we’re relying solely on outside recruitment. We’ve had around ten arrivals, which is very positive, a really good number, but still not quite enough to guarantee a settled, sustainable reserve team.

You’d need twice as many?

Ideally, yes, we were counting on between fifteen and twenty new players at the very least, we’re halfway there, so come and join us (smiles)!

XV de l’Erdre, neighbours and partners at under-14 level

Do you have dual registrations, or is that an option to explore?

No, not yet. We have a few leads on that kind of registration, but they’re players who will mainly be playing with their own first team, so it remains an option to explore. I’d point out that with XV de l’Erdre, 5 kilometres from us, we have a joint set-up for the under-14 rugby school, we have use of an artificial pitch, and we try to help each other out. The subject of the senior team hasn’t come up yet. I’m waiting for the season to get going before putting it on the agenda.

A one-season moratorium, and points deductions

Can you count on some leniency from the Pays de la Loire regional league over your promotion and this reserve team issue?

I fought all through the off-season to make that case heard. To point out that back when the leagues were called Série, Honneur and Promotion d’Honneur, promoted teams got a season or even more to bring themselves into line with the regulations. When the reform into Régionale 1, 2 and 3 came in, that flexibility was scrapped. Yet it gave clubs time to build and get organised. This time, we’ve obtained a one-season moratorium. At the club, we know how hard it is not to have young players yet compared with other clubs, and there’s plenty of competition around Nantes. With the points deductions, our goal of staying up in Régionale 1 won’t be easy… So yes, the Federation had the final say, the regional league approved it, and it doesn’t just apply to my club but to every promoted club. Internally, I also have some leads with players from the recreational rugby side who are ready to lend a hand for a few matches, and dual registrations are still “up our sleeve”, but we always need lads who commit, not patches on inner tubes, we need new inner tubes!

Under-16s expected in 2027-2028

So in fact you’re under pressure for three seasons…

In 2027-2028, we’re opening the under-16 section. We’ll then have three or four seasons to wait, provided those youngsters stay at the club, before we see them step up to the first team. In the best-case scenario, we’re looking at three years before those rugby school youngsters reach senior level.