Jono Gibbes takes Clermont job, O'Gara promoted at La Rochelle
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Clermont have announced that Jono Gibbes will replace Franck Azema as the new head coach.
Gibbes returns to Clermont having worked with the club as the forward's coach when they won the TOP14 back in 2017. He left Clermont to take the role as head coach at Ulster before returning to New Zealand with a short stint at Waikato in 2018.
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Later in 2018, he returned to France in his current role as Director of Rugby at La Rochelle.
He joins Clermont on a three-season deal and replaces Franck Azéma who is stepping down from the role that he has held at Clermont since 2014.
At La Rochelle, Ronan O'Gara has been promoted to the Director of Rugby post that Gibbes is vacating. He has signed on in the position for the next three seasons from July 1, 2021.
“I am extremely proud of the confidence that La Rochelle has shown in me by appointing me at the head of the group. I am obviously very impatient to continue this adventure next season, but all in good time. We have important deadlines ahead of us and above all a good season to end in the best possible way. " Ronan O'Gara
Clermont president on Gibbes' appointment: “He knows our club well, its players and how it works, with which he has already had success before gaining new professional experiences in Ulster and La Rochelle. His high standards and professionalism, demonstrated this season through Stade Rochelais' remarkable career in both competitions, will form the basis of his assumption of office next summer. In the search conditions imposed on us, we are very happy to have found in Jono Gibbes, the person capable of embodying the ambitious future of the club in the years to come. "
Gibbes' Coach awards:
- 3x European Champion with Leinster (2009, 2011 and 2012)
- European finalist in 2015 and 2017 with Leinster
- Winner of Pro 12 with Leinster in 2013 and 2014
- TOP14 Champion with Clermont in 2017
- Top 14 Finalist in 2015
- Mitre 10 Cup Championship with Waikato (2018).
