Ten years ago, Régis Sonnes landed in West Cork not knowing what to expect.
Certainly, he couldn’t have foreseen that he’d be here, a decade later, leading Bandon Grammar School into their fourth Munster Schools Senior Cup semi-final — which will be streamed live on the Irish Examiner.
In the meantime, his journey has taken him back to his old club, Toulouse, where he delivered a Top 14 title in 2019, and saw him appointed as the Spanish women’s national team head coach last November.
His second stint with Bandon began in 2023, during which time he has been commuting between Ireland and France, even before the Spain job came around.
He took his first camp with Las Leonas last week before jumping straight back into Senior Cup preparation.
“It’s a passion,” says Sonnes with a chuckle. “The passion of my life. It’s hard for my brain, but it’s good, because you stay alive like that.
“All the time, it’s a new experience. It gives me more learning and it pushes me to improve.
“I’m in Bandon until the middle of March, and after, I will go 100% with Spain. Or 90%, I will finish, because the cup will finish and the school will be doing their exams, so I will come back after and say hello.
“But I’m focused on Bandon until the end of March, and after, I will be 100% with Spain.”
What drew him back to Bandon, after spells with Toulouse and Agen, was a sense of unfinished business.
“After the first time around, I was frustrated because with the call of Toulouse, I didn’t finish the cycle,” says Sonnes.
“The Jack Crowley team were in their fifth year when I went to Toulouse. They lost the semi-final after, so I don’t know. I was frustrated, and I kept it in my mind.
“So I’m doing it now with another generation. A wonderful generation, very good guys, and we are doing well. In my mind, I’m more cool. I’m very happy with what’s happening.”
Last March, Bandon Grammar lifted their first major trophy when defeating CBC to be crowned Munster Schools Junior Cup champions.
They backed up that success by winning the U18 Bowen Shield against Christians in December.
That mentality shift is the biggest difference Sonnes sees between 2016 and now.
“We gained confidence because we showed that we can win. We won the Junior Cup, we won the Bowen Shield, we were in the (Senior Cup) semi-final, so the thinking from outside has changed.
“Now, we are a bit more competitive. It’s very, very interesting for the confidence of the lads. The continuity of the coaches changed everything too. But the change is more the mentality.
“Before, we just wanted to be part of the process, to participate in the competition. Now, we want to win.”
Sonnes’ coaching philosophy centres around developing the person as much as the player.
“We are really an academy. We train in the morning before school – gym, skills – and after school, we work very, very hard.
“This is a part of what we want. It’s not only rugby. We are working in education too. Hard work is very important in life.
“It’s working with the man, not only the player, and working on his life. The school helps us a lot, because they accept what we want. We want to be excellent in both things, in the school and on the pitch, so it’s working.”
It’s important for Sonnes knowing that their work will continue to thrive once his focus shifts to guiding Spain towards the 2029 World Cup in Australia.
“You are a good trainer because you have good players. It’s not me or the staff, it’s because we have a wonderful generation. The next generation is very good too, so the Grammar School has a good future, short-term and long-term.
“We don’t want to waste the talent, that’s the most important thing, so we do the best for them.
“And more players come from outside now, because the picture has changed. Because you are working well, more students will come to play rugby there.
“We have a huge rugby community here. The rugby club is very good with under-age. Under-18, all the time, they are winning cups. You have Hammies too, the second school, they won last year. It’s powerful for rugby here.”
The perfect au revoir would be a first Senior Cup final appearance for Bandon Grammar, who meet St Munchin’s at Virgin Media Park on Wednesday afternoon (12.45pm kick-off).
“It’s not really at home, because home is in Bandon, but we know the pitch and we like that pitch,” says Sonnes. “But you never know. Munchin’s are very, very strong.
“We’ve achieved what we want. Now, it’s a bonus. We won the Bowen Shield, which was the target, and we are in the semi-final, which was the target.
“We have a very, very young team. More or less 50% of the team are in fifth year or fourth year. There are seven lads in fourth year in the squad, so we are preparing for next year and the future.
“We will give the maximum. We will compete and we’ll see what happens.”
