The old hands of the Basque coast know it well: fine weather does not last forever and very often comes just before the storm. Last June, Aviron Bayonnais wrapped up an exceptional 2024-2025 season marked by a historic play-off qualification and a startling appearance in the last four.

And yet, despite that outrageous sporting success, contrary winds had already got up behind the scenes. The cause: the recruitment of Laurent Travers, poached from his office as deputy president of Racing 92 to take on the role of director of rugby, the man himself explaining his choice by his desire to put the suit and tie away in the wardrobe and get closer to the pitch.

Enough to stir up a few fears for the general manager already in place, Grégory Patat, who suddenly saw his remit under threat. So much so that the Gers native, out of contract in 2026, turned down an offer of an extension from his president Philippe Tayeb this summer.

Two friendly defeats at Jean-Dauger

So much for the context, inevitably heavy for a squad that sees every day the distance between its two leading minds, who are bound to tread on each other’s toes. And, as so often in such cases, the tense atmosphere behind the scenes spills over onto the field. On 21 August, Aviron played their first pre-season friendly in their reputedly impregnable Jean-Dauger den and lost it… to Biarritz Olympique (19-21), the loathed near neighbours who spent much of last season fighting for survival in Pro D2.

Bayonne manager Grégory Patat (centre) and his squad, dejected after the friendly defeat to Biarritz. (Photo by Hugo Pfeiffer/Icon Sport)

An affront that stuck in captain Arthur Iturria’s throat: “I’m very disappointed, very frustrated and I’m almost a little ashamed, he said in the heat of the moment after the Basque derby. With all the respect I have for Biarritz, maybe they prepared very well, but we have the ambitions of a team at the top of the Top 14 table, we were up against the tenth-placed team in Pro D2 and we were incapable of doing any better than that (…). We’ll have to do better because right now you find yourself thinking the start of the season could be complicated”.

The lock’s fears were partly borne out the following week, in the second and last pre-season test of August, again at Jean-Dauger. Granted, the opposition, Stade Toulousain, were a different calibre from BO. But the French champions were a long way from fielding their best side, particularly in the backs, where Olympic champion Nelson Épée looked like a veteran at kick-off, at the grand age of 24. And even though Bayonne were able to show some good things at times, they still lost a match (24-28) they had hoped to win to give themselves a little confidence before the Top 14 restart.

Bayonne lose Tatafu and Chouzenoux for the Top 14 restart

Worse, they lost two important members of their squad: tighthead prop Tevita Tatafu, hurt in the ankle inside the first quarter of an hour and whose start to the season is now largely compromised, and control tower Baptiste Chouzenoux, who went off a little later in the game after another concussion.

In short, this is not exactly a time for joy and good cheer in the sub-prefecture of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a week before the trip to Perpignan for the opening round of the Top 14. Asked about his personal situation after the defeat to Toulouse, manager Grégory Patat preferred to say as little as possible, no doubt for fear of saying a little too much and inflaming a situation that is already fairly tense.

“I remain professional (…). There have been a lot of episodes. I think the squad is used to it. Today, we have to focus on our performance. The side issues, we don’t talk about them”. And yet that is exactly what could ruin a season already polluted before it has even started.