JAMES HARRINGTON
FRENCH COLUMN

TOULON’S search for a head coach to take some of the day-to-day strain off sporting director Pierre Mignoni was only ever going in one direction. Despite being linked with moves for England’s Joe El-Abd – who played for the Var club between 2009 and 2012 – and Montpellier’s Joan Caudullo, the first-choice was always Franck Azema.
Mignoni and Azema were together at Toulon for a short spell before the latter moved to take on the top job at Perpignan in July 2023. It was clear, then, that they had enjoyed a strong worki...