Project, new contracts and new players

Nicolas Cuynat, who was appointed president of the Club in December, appeared before the media on Thursday to present his project for the FCG. He accompanied this press conference with several announcements concerning next season's line-up, with several extras and three recruits.

Nicolas Cuynat spoke, surrounded by Laurent Pelissier, Chairman of the Club's Supervisory Board, Daniel Jennepin, President of the FCG Association, David Dussert, the Club's new Managing Director, and Franck Corrihons, Rugby Director.

The new Chairman of the Club presented the new organisation of the Club, which further marks the cohesion between the association and SASP, with the setting up of a Strategic Committee, composed of 7 members (4 shareholders of SASP, 3 managers of the Association). Former FCG player, David Dussert, the new Managing Director of the association and the SASP, will be in charge of making the link between this Strategic Committee, the sports management (Franck Corrihons and Stéphane Glas) and the executive management of the Club (Nicolas Trichet).

The Club has presented a long-term development ambition with the objective of joining the Top 10 of French rugby, within the framework of a 3-year plan. This objective is based on the 3 pillars already mentioned above: the athlete, the infrastructures and the development. 

In terms of infrastructure, an agreement should be reached in the coming weeks between FCG, GF38 and the Metro for joint management of the Stade des Alpes by the two clubs. This association will enable the Club to confirm the Stade des Alpes as the FCG's competition stadium, but also to allow the two entities to manage the stadium on a day-to-day basis.

The FCG is also intended to be the Club des Alpes: this ambition is reflected in the development of partnerships with clubs from all over the Alps, but also in the development of a "Mountain Spirit". Innovation, a strong element of Grenoble's identity, will also be at the heart of the FCG's project: "We are going to accelerate strongly on this point" indicated Nicolas Cuynat.

Daniel Jennepin, President of the FCG Association, also confirmed the Club's desire to continue its work to develop the practice of Sport and Rugby. The Club wants to develop its work on cohesion and education through sport (through the FCG scheme in my town, Rugby Wednesdays), promote the practice of sport as a public health issue, continue to support charitable actions and associations in our territory, and, finally, develop access to sport for all (quad rugby, 5-a-side rugby, etc.) Franck Corrihons and David Dussert took the opportunity to highlight the indispensable involvement of the many volunteers who make this possible.

Finally, the Club's sports management communicated on the evolution of the first team's membership for the coming seasons. After the extra time of Clément Ancely, Steeve Blanc-Mappaz and Alaska Taufa, eight FCG-trained players have signed up for two or three more seasons: Ange Capuozzo (2022), Lucas Dupont (2022), Eli Eglaine (2022), Corentin Glenat (2023), Fabien Guillemin (2022), Thibaut Martel (2023), Lilian Rossi (2023), Jérémy Valençot (2022). Discussions with Nathanaël Hulleu, Romain Fusier and Régis Montagne, who are committed until 2021, will resume after the VI Nations tournament, to allow them to concentrate as best they can on this competition.

Three new recruits will reinforce the Club for the next two seasons. Jonathan Bousquet (31 years old), back and striker, will join Grenoble after six seasons in Perpignan. The Fijian international, Timoci Nagusa, the sixth best try scorer in the Top 14 (80), will leave Montpellier after 10 seasons in the Hérault to join Isère. Finally, Karim Qadiri has signed his first professional contract with FCG. Trained at Massy and then at Stade Français, the U18 and U19 international has been playing for Beaune in the French top flight since 2018 (7 tries in his first season, 9 this season in 14 games).

Additional extensions and new arrivals are expected to be formalized in the coming weeks.