It's a nice wink for the school principal that he is. Eric Briquet-Campin, a 63-year-old from Toulon, has just published his very first work. And it cannot be invented: it is a dictionary.
“Funny”, “quirky”, “caustic”, “passionate”, and above all “rugby”: these are adjectives that we could use to describe The impertinent dictionary of rugby refereeingpublished by Les Presses du Midi on October 11.
It must be said that the author, a rugby referee for around thirty years (aside from his work), certainly did not intend to write a banal text on the rules of this game, however complex they may be: “I wanted to put something easy to read, and which is not only intended for enlightened rugby fans. There is a bit of history, culture, values and humor. That's what which makes it accessible and light.”
“Volunteer”, “neutrality”, “punchlines”…
Prefaced by former player Aubin Hueber and illustrated by Laura Passalacqua, the work therefore covers, in around a hundred pages, twenty-six words – for twenty-six letters of the alphabet – which summarize its author's passion for rugby and refereeing.
From the terms “volunteer” to “video” via “neutrality” and “punchlines”, the man with the whistle enriches his text with anecdotes and thus evokes “a world apart”.
He also pays tribute to amateur sport, which saw him born and grow as a match official. “All these women and men who devote a lot of their time to pursuing a passion that is of social utility deserve this recognition”says Eric Briquet-Campin.
For the writing of this work, the latter also called on several of his friends, referees or not. “They gave me a few words that they thought represented arbitration. Afterwards, I chose the letters to build the architecture of the alphabet and put everything I wanted to put there.”
Three Top 14 finals recently refereed
And the native of Toulon has things to say. During his rich career in the world of refereeing, he was able to officiate numerous elite French rugby matches, between Top 16, then Top 14, and European competitions. And this, without forgetting several international tests.
Having become a video referee in 2016, Eric Briquet-Campin has since accumulated 250 matches in this assistant role, including three Top 14 finals. That alone.
“I am coming to the end of a rich and busy career. If someone had told me the day I took the whistle for my first match, in Méounes, that it would last more than thirty years and that I would was going to reach the international level, I wouldn't have believed it, but it lasted and I had that chance.” It was therefore necessary to leave a trace…
The book is available on several platforms and on the publisher's website: lespressesdumidi.fr
Eric Briquet-Campin will be present on the stand of the Périclès bookstore on November 22, 23 and 24, on the occasion of the Var Book Festival, organized on the Place d'Armes in Toulon. The curious are invited to come and meet him to talk rugby and refereeing.
