Former Springbok lock Flip van der Merwe has become the new president of the second division French rugby club Biarritz, a team currently facing struggles in their league.
The announcement of Flip van der Merwe stepping in as the new president was part of a buyout deal that also involved former Biarritz players Shaun Hegarty and Marc Baget. This move comes as the Basque club, historically one of France’s premier rugby teams and the former club of Serge Blanco, finds itself near the bottom of the ProD2 league after being relegated from the Top 14 in 2022.
The acquisition, symbolically made for one euro, was confirmed by New Zealand-born Hegarty, who was part of Biarritz’s championship victories in 2005 and 2006. During a press conference, Hegarty emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating the necessity to prevent the club from collapsing.
Flip van der Merwe, who earned 36 caps for the Springboks and played for Clermont from 2015 to 2019, is taking over the presidential role from Jean-Baptiste Aldige. Aldige had been leading the club since 2018 when he and owner Louis-Vincent Gave purchased Biarritz.
Hegarty praised Van der Merwe as the ideal successor to Aldige, highlighting his respected status in the rugby community. Hegarty, after his playing career, ventured into business, founding a travel agency with former teammate Federico Martin Aramburu. He was with Aramburu, the former Argentina center, when Aramburu was tragically killed in a Paris bar in March 2022.
