A few days before the start of the VI Nations Tournament, Gabin Villière joined Marcoussis to prepare for the first match against Wales. At the microphone of RMC Sport, he talks about his season in Toulon, his injuries, his return to Blue.
The RCT is 3rd in Top 14, well established behind Bordeaux and Toulouse. How are you feeling this year?
We're off to a great start to the season, it's great, we have to stay on top of that. It's going well physically so it's great to be able to continue.
At the dawn of the tournament, should the French XV have the objective of aiming for a victory? Have you found that confidence and talent that made you a favorite ?
Yes, in recent years, the French team has always been in the top two places. Often with a defeat, a little something that rocks the tournament. But we are close, we won it once. All the teams want the same thing, but we are ready and formatted to go for titles and win big matches. Winning this Tournament would do the group good, it would allow us to get a little more out of the World Cup, we are really capable of going for titles.
The defeat in the quarter-final of the World Cup is not completely over?
Collectively, yes, I think that it is evacuated because we have objectives which are brought into play each season. In the team we don't talk about it too much anymore. On the other hand, I individually think about it every week or even every day, I realize how lucky we were to experience it and this sadness of not having gone further.
How do you overcome this frustration?
It happens naturally, it was evacuated over the days. At first it was complicated because we thought about it all the time, and then it eventually passed. Of course it remains present, I think of the moments we experienced, of the enormous things we could have done. But we try to move on because rugby continues, we have to move on.
You have come back from several complicated moments, injuries in particular. HAS your subject, Fabien Galthié said: “A player must be able to go through difficult times, and this is the case of Gabin who was an example. I need players without qualms.” This sentence is still quite strong.
I know myself, I know that I don't give up, despite the injuries, the challenges, I have character. I'm not saying I'll always be the best, far from it, but I'm not giving up.
Did we have to break the abscess with the coach in relation to the choices he made during the World Cup, the fact that you left the team after the second match against Uruguay?
I am tall, I am also capable of understanding choices. At my position too, there is Louis Bielle-Biarrey who arrived and who was very good. Obviously, it was hard, I don't have the same profile as him but it's up to me to question myself and try not to give up to regain my place. And on the last tour I had the chance to play. It's difficult individually but I didn't need anything explained to me or to have a one-on-one with Fabien. I am mature enough to understand the situation.
This November tour, this match against Argentina, did coming back do you any good?
Yes, a lot. I went there with the mindset of playing even if it was going to be very hard. I wanted to continue to gain experience, train with different guys, to progress and bring to Toulon also behind. Finally, the doors opened, and I was ready to give it my all. It was incredible, I experienced this match against the All Blacks as a first selection, as a child. In these cases, it feels good to realize that not having given up pays off in the end.
You don't have a classic profile, with this scrapper, fighter, hard worker side…
Yes, it's true that I'm not a guy who's going to go at 37 km/h… I still go fast, eh, but I'm not among the fastest. I do with my qualities which are different, in the fight, the duels, the ruckus, the offloads, in the ruck zones. I try to make use of my qualities and compete with other players without taking myself for another.
-You have not been spared from injuries in recent seasons. Is it a cliché to say that you came back stronger?
No, it's true, especially mentally, in terms of character. We grow with injuries, it allows us to evolve, to mature. These are moments when we have time to think, to think about things other than rugby. It makes me stronger and it helps me on a daily basis to experience more or less easy moments.
Have you surprised yourself by going up complicated slopes after certain injuries?
No, I knew I was going to do it, because I had to do it, there was no choice. In my head, I was programmed to come back as soon and as strong as possible. I never doubted.
When we talk about your performances with the Toulon staff, with Pierre Mignoni, we feel that he protects you a lot. They don't hesitate to let you breathe, and everything seems to be done in great harmony.
Absolutely, it's the same for all players. When you're on the pitch and you have a lot of matches, it's hard. And when we are at rest we miss the field. We, players, have difficulty managing this balance, being aware of it. So the staff does it very well and that allows us to have good recovery periods, especially since we are lucky at the RCT to have depth in each position which allows us to be able to rotate, to use different profiles, with young people growing behind.
With this good period that you are experiencing in the Var, is the ambition of becoming champion of France becoming real?
This is no more the case this year than last year, when we were able to host a quarter at home. But that didn't mean much since after a huge second half of the season, we fell at home against La Rochelle. It's hard to get to the end, it will be decided in the last months. We are on the right track but it is not because we are good now that we are going to be champions, especially with Toulouse and Bordeaux who are very strong. On the other hand, it is legitimate to believe in a Top 6 to give yourself the hope and the chance of going for a title.
What can we wish you in 2025 with the red and black jersey?
It's simple, everyone will answer the same: win. I want to win both titles, the Top 14 and the European Cup. But already getting a final would be huge.
And with the Blues?
I want to stay on top, there are people at all positions. I want to be in this team, in this extended group. And I know that there are always opportunities that eventually come along.
And it's not a gift either to be in competition with Gabin Villière…
In any case, I give my all every day. The goal is to show that nothing is easy and that we will not have to give up. Because I won't let him go.
Comments collected by Florent Germain
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