Niort – Langon
He will return to Espinassou on Sunday, May 11. But in the opposing jersey. For five seasons, Jean-Baptiste Bretagnolle wore the colors of Niort RC. This time, it is with Langon that the winger will find “His heart club”where he has “Experienced his best years of rugby from a personal point of view”. He will also come across his best friend Benjamin Alcacebe on his way, the Niortais melee half. “Destiny brings us together. I would have preferred Niort to win the final against Rennes ”he slips.
Defeated by the Bretons (10-19), the players of Johann Authier must now dismiss the Girondins to hope to go up in National. So, a few days to find the Deux-Sèvres for an accession match, “JB” Bretagnolle admits: “It will make me happy to come back, but it is a difficult feeling to describe. I created strong links with Niort players, even if the team is no longer the same as last season ”.
Especially since it will also be his last match with Langon, a club he had already known in his young career. “It was a great season. We were the only amateur team, with players who trained in the evening after work, while the other training courses were professional, summarizes the winger. I had made the choice to join the South and to lift my foot on rugby, and I found myself in a division which has a professional status. »»
A dozen matches in national
At 31, he will not definitively draw a line on his sport, but chose to descend to a lower level, to Aire-sur-Adour in the Landes, in Federal 3. “I decided to put rugby in parentheses. I experienced magnificent moments during my small career, but I was tired of doing the shuttle to go to training. I get closer to my house. I no longer have the strength to make so many sacrifices. My club has understood my choiceindicates Jean-Baptiste Bretagnolle, now an employee and dad of two children. I had stresses at higher levels, but no. I am happy to have tasted the national ”.
-A season during which he will play “A dozen games, a lot outside, a few at home. I was able to answer present with my qualities, especially in defense. It was a great experience, I do not regret having gone to Langon to taste the high level, facing very beautiful teams. »» He was a holder for the last match in Narbonne, where the staff took the opportunity to run his workforce. Langon finished penultimate with eight victories, despite the numerous injuries in a physically demanding championship.
“It’s 50/50”
It therefore remains of this last obstacle, so special, to be crossed to maintain its club as a national. And the Girondins will come with their qualities. “We have a real solidarity group, with beautiful victories against large teams in a very bewildered division. This group is exceptional, we managed to do great things, Confirms Jean-Baptiste Bretagnolle, also passed by Bergerac. I was quickly integrated, it is a human club with real values, similar to those I knew in Niort. There is also the same fervor around the team. At home, the stadium was full time ”.
For several weeks, since already sentenced to this barragist’s place, the Langonnais have worked their subject. “I know that we are going to answer present for this match against Niort. It will be 50-50, each team has its qualities ”continues Jean-Baptiste Bretagnolle, who is also preparing to plunge back into the atmosphere of the big days in Espinassou, where 5,000 people should take place in the stands. “It will be a beautiful fervor, Niort players will have the advantage of the field and the atmosphere. We will see the final result ”, Who, for sure, will necessarily leave him a mixture of feelings.
Niort – Langon, Sunday May 11, 3:15 p.m.
