TOULON HAVE PARTED ways with director of rugby Pierre Mignoni, who suffered a “breakdown” last season, following a poor start to this campaign, the Top 14 club announced on Tuesday.

Toulon have lost four of their first five matches, including a humbling 28-0 reverse to Montpellier on Sunday. Their only victory was against newly-promoted Vannes.

“Pierre Mignoni communicated to the Toulon management his decision to end his mission as director of rugby, which the club accepted,” Toulon said in a statement.

Mignoni, 49, took a month off earlier in the year after suffering from “a breakdown, a work overload” following a Top 14 defeat to Clermont.

“My body gave out on me,” he had said in March when he returned to his role.

Toulon had reached the Top 14 semi-finals in 2024/25 but finished a disappointing ninth last season, missing out on both the play-offs and Champions Cup qualification.

And their start to the current campaign does not bode well for a return to the upper reaches of the division as they sit 13th.

“He felt that a change was necessary to give a new push to the team,” said the club in its statement.

Franck Azema, who coached the club between 2021 and 2023 before returning to Toulon in the summer, will take over the coaching reins.

– © AFP 2026