“The people of Monts, Julien Tastet and Rémi Talès, started to tease me, telling me that it was 'a scandal' that I was on the sidelines of the derby. » For this meeting between US Dax and Stade Montois, whose kick-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. this Saturday, November 16, Romain Lafitte is in fact one of the journalists from the Canal + rugby editorial team invited to participate in the party planned in the Jean-Dauger stadium in Bayonne.
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“Born in Dax, at the Daragnès clinic, room 16” 37 years ago, Romain Lafitte is amused by this novelty: “Éric Bayle comments well on Aviron Bayonnais”. This season, however, his interviews are taking place in the higher division, with questions asked to staff and players in the Top 14 match broadcast on Saturday evening.
Nicknamed “corn cruncher, because the red ass has not been assimilated” by his teammates in the sports department where he has worked for eight years, Romain Lafitte has also become an identified figure among Pro D2 fans. Presenter of the show Soir de rugby with former Biarritz international second row Jérôme Thion, he takes the air every Friday evening at 6:50 p.m., returning at 11:30 p.m.
First internship at “Sud Ouest”
Romain Lafitte is one of those journalists who began their professional career with an internship at the daily newspaper “Sud Ouest”. This took place in 2010, within the Dacquoise editorial staff, while he was a student at the Toulouse journalism school. His first article published, on March 5, 2010, already dealt, by mischievous coincidence, with rugby. Titled “US Dax remains on its credo”, Romain Lafitte expressed some reservations about the outcome of the season. “It would take a great combination of circumstances for Dax to find himself in the semi-finals in May. » Well seen, the USD of Thomas Lièvremont had then ended its season at 14e place in the ranking.
From round to oval
“He had the intelligence to choose rugby, with the affectionate relationship he has for this sport, at a time when he also covered Football for Infosport,” underlines Louis Vix. Also in the sports department of Canal +, the latter has forged a friendship with Romain Lafitte since a first report carried out jointly. “It’s the trial of Platini and Blatter, in Zurich. He had pressure to perform well on the air, but I could see right away that he was a huge hard worker. »
“It’s a show that is watched by specialists who know rugby better than you. You don't have the right to screw up. It’s the same thing when you interview people like Ugo Mola or Christophe Urios: if you don’t come in confident in front of them, you don’t exist,” admits Romain Lafitte. Football player whose career peak was reached in 1998 with the youngest members of the Marous de Saint-Geours-de-Maremne club in 1998, champions of the Landes promotion, supporter of the Girondins de Bordeaux, Romain Lafitte was able to compensate for his absence of rugby practice through a passion and a spirit transmitted by his father, Christian.
“The first rugby matches I saw were at Maurice-Boyau. We always placed ourselves next to the players' exit, on the mound. » This proximity to the field, already, is intertwined with the exploits of a generation from Dacquoise who then made the heyday of the clubs whose leaders understood that rugby was becoming professional. “Pelous, Ibañez, Dourthe, Magne and all the others, it was a dream for the kid that I was. »
“A teammate with character”
Seats from the old grandstand of the Dacquois stadium have thus found a second life in the garden of the guest room of Romain Lafitte's father, where he came to spend a few days off with his partner Valentine and their two-year-old daughter. , Juliet. He embraces this attachment to the red and white club, supported in this by the experience of his elders, such as Guilhem Garrigues. “Let him enjoy the period that US Dax is going through, things can quickly turn around as I saw with Montauban! »
“Romain has the cardinal values for practicing our profession: journalistic rigor and passion for rugby. He is a magnificent teammate, with his character and his enthusiasm,” continues this colleague who preceded him by a few years at Canal +. Their respective successes do not owe much to chance, as Romain Lafitte believes. “It’s a journey that we’re taking. It doesn't happen all at once. »
A journey, from the first subjects, through “comments in the booth”, then interviews and presentation. The next step could be match commentary, as he was able to do, off the bat, for Pau-Toulouse, two seasons ago, with the support of Marie-Alice Yahé as consultant. “I had two hours to prepare. I was supposed to be on the pitch, but Philippe Groussard tested positive for Covid. »
With Pierre Albaladejo as his “ultimate idol”, nurtured at Éric Bayle's school, Romain Lafitte then entered the arena with the same spirit as a bullfighter challenging the toro. Lucid and humble, like the rituals he respects in addition to the many sheets written before each broadcast. “Out of respect for the viewer, it will always be suit and tie,” points out Romain Lafitte. The importance he places on his hairstyle makes his colleague Guilhem Garrigues smile. “Makeup artists are crazy. He asks for hairspray all the time. »
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