We already knew the hookers who became number 8 or the pillars who occasionally replace the heel, but the opposite remains rare! However, this is what Christopher Tolofua would like to head towards. At almost 31 years old, the Montpellier HR hooker would like to try the adventure in the right axis of the scrum.
Indeed, the hooker indicates in the columns of L'Équipe that he would like to try his hand at the position of right pillar. Furthermore, Joan Caudullo already considers the former Stade Toulousain as his third right pillar in training. “He is interesting in this position. Our left-handers could confirm it (smile)”, comments the MHR head coach with humor.
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Subsequently, the main person himself details what pushes him to attempt this unusual reconversion. “I was the one who volunteered.[…] I started working as a right pillar in Toulon where Eric Dasalmartini gave me some keys. Here, we are in the idea of troubleshooting, but it is a position that attracts me”, he confides, specifying that he was already ready to help out in this position since the start of his career.
If this reconversion is confirmed more regularly in matches, the player could therefore integrate the hierarchy of the right pillars of the MHR. Then, Christopher Tolofua explains why, in his opinion, he would have the qualities to make a convincing right pillar:
I'm one of the strongest heels (1.83 m, 120 kg) so I wouldn't necessarily need to gain weight. This is the hardest position in the scrum, but for a hooker, in my opinion it is less difficult to pass to the right than to the left. On the left, you have a free shoulder, you can vary the angles. At the heel and to the right, you are caught, and there is this notion of locking to master. Technically, we are in the same complexity. Physically, the right prop position is even harder, because you take more pressure.”
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Christopher Tolofua, an already rich career
Early, Christopher Tolofua already has 12 years of professional experience under his belt. Joined the Stade Toulousain professional group at the age of 18, he played more than 150 matches in Haute-Garonne and won the Brennus Shield from the start. All this, before flying to England, to Saracens in 2017.
With one of the biggest teams in Europe, he won two English championship titles (2018 and 2019) before returning to France. It is with RC Toulon that the hooker will continue his career and win a Challenge Cup in 2023. At the start of 2024, he then sets down his bags in Hérault.
On the side of the XV of France, Christopher Tolofua is the youngest forward ever called up with the XV of France. In the summer of 2012, Philippe Saint-André called him to play the Blues tour in Argentina. In the meantime, the hooker has obtained no less than 8 caps and his last French call-up took place during the 2019 World Cup.
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