Country retreat recharges coach Cotter

by Kelly Exelby | 17th February 2010

Vern Cotter doesn't need reminding of the history; besides he's too big and brutal to linger for an interminable length of time on the nuances of the painful past.

But, for anyone needing a brief reminder, Cotter's Clermont Auvergne are French club rugby's perennial bridesmaids, having now been runners-up in 2007, 2008 and 2009 with the 48-year-old former Bay of Plenty head coach in charge.

That's to go with the seven other occasions they've reached France's Top 14 club final and come off second best. They might be backed by the region's biggest employer, the wealthy Michelin tyre company, but all the francs in France haven't been able to buy a title.

Cotter and his family - wife Emily and children Holly, 6, Thomas, 4, and Arabella, almost 2 - have been back home in Te Puke for two weeks during a lull in the club season while the Six Nations is on, lolling in the sun and sand of nearby Papamoa beach.

- Read more in today's Bay of Plenty Times