Of course, it was a long time. I was really looking forward to meeting the team again, especially the guys who make it up. I wasn't lost: I quickly found myself (smile).
You haven't played with the French XV since the World Cup. What does this inspire you?
The context is totally different: a lot has happened since then, for me and for the team. We are in a new cycle, with new objectives. We want to have fun, put content into the game. To talk about the Tournament, despite the positive result of second place, everyone was frustrated: I wasn't there, but I suspect that the players didn't didn't have maximum fun on the pitch. You need enthusiasm, the desire to do well, and a lot of motivation.
Is this tour the start of a new cycle with a view to the 2027 World Cup?
Every time we calculate the deadlines in rugby, the ultimate goal remains the World Cup. The next one is in 2027: we have the experience and the maturity to tell ourselves that everything we work on today is with the aim of being the most efficient in three years. We feel a new energy, with a new staff, new players who are even starting to make us feel old.
You naturally regained the status of captain. How do you approach it?
I spoke with Fabien (Galthié): my point of view was clear, coming back to this team, I was available to the team. If the solution was to give it back to me, I accepted it. But if it had been different, I would have accepted it too. In this team, we are quite a few leaders. I don't feel lonely in this role. We don't have an ego problem. In any case, we will give the best of ourselves.
What did you learn at 7 that you will be able to reuse at XV?
There are quite a few similarities. But there are sectors that I didn't necessarily work on before which made me either progress or find certain things that I had abandoned, like the game of duels or in spaces. In rucks for example, number 9 participates very little while at 7, we are obliged to perform well. I had to emphasize it, I think it helped me.
You have won almost everything in 2024. Where can you find the energy to start again after all this?
It's something instinctive. As soon as I'm on the field, I want to be the best I can be and win everything that comes my way. Even if these are competitions that I have already won, I have goals to achieve. Whether in training or in a match, I find it hard to imagine being not very good or average. And I have the chance to play in very successful, very ambitious teams, which still have the means to win things. It's easier.
Do you think that your gold medal at the Paris Olympics has further changed your notoriety?
In my daily club life, no. I didn't feel any noticeable change. In the street, notoriety has obviously grown: we know the scale of the Olympics, what's more with the result we had. But it was not a revolution in my life.
You cut 10 weeks this summer: did you talk to yourself every day?
No. I'm not going to lie, I barely did anything for three or four weeks after the Games. Afterwards, it was fun going to play with friends or going to train with my club, even if it was hard at the beginning (smile). The last two weeks when I was not in France (Editor's note, he was in the USA), I had a more diligent schedule: I knew that I was entitled to quite a few weeks of vacation but that, during the week I return, I will have to be ready to be on the match sheet. These were the prerequisites.
This is the first time that you have started a match for the France team with Thomas Ramos. What does that change compared to your association with Romain Ntamack?
