Hervé Carbonel case, Wainiqolo's departure... Pierre Mignoni takes stock

Bernard Lemaitre told us that his RCT had "almost" completed its transfer window. With the exception of the right pillar position [where the club seems to have since secured the services of Georgian Nikoloz Narmania, Editor's note] , a three-quarter center and, possibly, an exchange at fly-half.

On this issue, directly linking the future of Louis Carbonel to that of Enzo Hervé, Pierre Mignoni explains: "For me, today there is Enzo [Hervé] , Paolo [Garbisi] and Mattéo Garcia who are arriving. The club and the president had not expressed any objection to a possible return of Louis. But for that to happen, the planets have to align and for the moment this is not the case."

And to detail: "Stade Français, to be clear, asked to get Enzo [Hervé] back. So logically, we talked to him about it. But despite the desire of another club, we can't just say yes. We have to respect the player. And that's what we're doing. What is certain is that our side won't have the possibility of having four fly-halfs."

"We have to stop doing anything."

While Pierre Mignoni has largely built his squad for the upcoming season, one departure has saddened the public: that of Jiuta Wainiqolo. This whimsical and brilliant winger, as unclassifiable as he is impossible to tackle.

The coach says: "Jiuta is having a great end to the season. Over the first six months, he struggled a lot more. Except that his future was somewhat decided during this period. The first factor is the sporting side. He also suffered from the competition at winger, and the Jiff problem. Then, he got back to work. He was more serious at the side. And then, he has qualities that we know he has! But when a player asks me to make choices, I never hold them back. He has proposals... and that's it."

Does he regret not having known, or been able, to get him back on track earlier in the season? He responds bluntly: "You can blame me, I have no problem with that. But I expect things, and not just over six months. Jiuta is someone I really like, he knows that. I worked with him a lot, on all the sidelines. I'm happy with what he was able to do at the end of the season and I wish him the best."

Could the club have bought out his pre-contract to keep his tightrope walker? Here too, Pierre Mignoni is direct: "It could have been a possibility. We could have asked ourselves the question, but we have to stop doing whatever we want. The club can no longer afford to live beyond its means. Choices have also been made with that in mind. There are things we will no longer be able to do. The club's economy is in danger, we must not forget that."