Claude Saurel (born 17 April 1948) is a former

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer and current coach. He is a former head coach of the Russia national rugby team. Saurel played his rugby for Béziers, his position being flanker. He went on to become the national coach of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. He made the move to Georgia after he was invited to conduct an audit of Georgian rugby in 1997. He went on to work with their Rugby Sevens team, until he was appointed as the national head coach in the summer of 1999. His appointment as head coach saw a surge in success for Georgian rugby. During the European Nations Cup tournament of 2000, Georgia finished second in the competition, finishing only behind

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, who were against them only on match points difference. The following year, Georgia improved upon their impressive performance at the European Nations in 2000, they won all five of their matches during the 2001 tournament, and thus finishing at the top of the table. Georgia placed second in the 2001-2002 tournament, but they would go on to qualify for the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

for the first time ever. They were grouped into pool C alongside giants -

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Although they were comprehensively defeated by England in their opening game as well as

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, they performed well against the Springboks and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Since 2007, he is the coach of the Russian national team. Saurel's first match in charge was against his former team (Georgia won 31-12).

References

External links

Georgia Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saurel, Claude 1948 births Sportspeople from Béziers Rugby union players from Occitania (administrative region) French rugby union players French rugby union coaches Living people Rugby union flankers AS Béziers Hérault players Georgia national rugby union team coaches Russia national rugby union team coaches French expatriate sportspeople in Russia French expatriate sportspeople in Georgia (country)