Afflelou named Bayonne president in club overhaul

Eyewear retailer Alain Afflelou, majority shareholder at French rugby club Bayonne, was on Tuesday named as the Top 14 side's new president by his predecessor, Michel Cacouault. The Basque club also announced that director of rugby Christian Gajan and his assistants, Thomas Lievremont and Frederic Tauzin, had left the club, with Jean-Pierre Elissalde appointed as coach on an interim six-month basis. "It's an interim appointment," explained Elissalde, former coach of Japan, during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. "Alain Afflelou has asked me to become his sporting advisor (from June 2012 onwards)." Bayonne recruited Neemia Tialata, Joe Rokocoko, Mike Phillips and Cedric Heymans during the summer but currently find themselves in 11th place in the French elite, just three points above the relegation places.