Pro D2 – Biarritz: The two facets of Yann David

Yann David is not yet done with rugby. At the end of his contract with Olympic Biarritz, he recently chose to continue the adventure in the Basque Country for one more year. “Yann came forward early for an extension. I gave my approval, on a sporting level, because he is someone very important to us. I am delighted and honored that he will remain with us, as he is a key part of our team”, explains Boris Bouhraoua, the head coach of BOPB. Launched into the deep end of professional rugby at a time when Olympic Biarritz was a leader in the French championship, Yann David will thus experience a twentieth season as a professional rugby player and it is a performance in itself, when we know the difficulty of this sport.

Bonneval: “You almost have the impression that he is going to apologize”

Off the field, Yann David is a calm, calm person. Almost shy. “He is reserved, but he is a natural leader, not a leader by words”, describes Bouhraoua. “He’s one of the nicest and coolest guys in the locker room, adds Arthur Bonneval. He welcomes everyone very well.” And his smile rarely leaves him. “It really does good on a human levelappreciates the head coach of the BO. Yann exudes kindness, calm and serenity. He always has a very positive aspect, never complains, even when we offer him hard things. A group advances when it is positive. If you have negative guys, you back off. Honestly, I really liked the person.” That’s it for the first side.

The second, when he puts on a jersey and crampons, is fundamentally different. Yann David, on the pitch, is above all a warrior, a frontal player, who is feared by many teams. “When he’s brutal on the field, you almost feel like he’s going to apologize to the guys in frontsmiled Bonneval. Yann is kindness personified. He switches well on the ground, but he’s not there to hurt. It is a force of nature, which has not changed”.

Not just an “impact player”

Bonneval, arrived this summer at the BOspeaks with knowledge of the facts. Before wearing the colors of the Basque team, he was a player at Stade Toulouse (2003-2022) and therefore crossed paths with Yann David between 2013 and 2018. “When I joined the professional group, in Toulouse, he was already there and he was impressiveremembers the winger. This is still the case. He just evolved on the fact that today he has fewer injuries.” This is true for the exercise which has just started. This was a little less the case last season, since Yann David only played 17 matches (13 starts). Is his management, within the team, different? This summer, he did collective preparation like the rest of the group. “On individualization, we listened to himexplains Bouhraoua. He never cheats, so we can communicate with him. He is very frank, we adapt our content and it maintains a certain freshness.”

In terms of the competition, in fact, Yann David certainly participated in four matches on the first day, but he only started one. “I we don’t want Yann to be stopped as an impact player, however sweeps away the technician. Yann is a puncher who will win the advantage line, he is very good at direct play. Sometimes he will be used at the start of the match, other times at the end, and for me he is capable of giving more than 20 or 30 minutes on the pitch. We also saw it in Montauban, where he played an entire match and had a boost at the end.” Friday evening, on the Stadium lawn, he will start the game, with the number twelve on his back. This will be his second start this season.