Replacing against Argentina this Friday evening (9:10 p.m.), the LOU second row has been playing for the French XV since last summer. Discovering a still little-known but terribly promising player.
He dreamed of the XV of France
“One day, mom, you will see me on TV.” As a child, while watching a French XV match, Mickaël Guillard already promised his mother a future at the highest level. For The Parisian his mother, Assiaty, confided that her son spoke to him again about this promise last summer when the Lyonnais was called up for the first time for the French team during the tour in Argentina. “While he was in Argentina, he asked me if I remembered what he told me when he was little. I said, 'Yes, of course.' And he said, 'Well, it happened.'” At only 23 years old, the native of Trappes has a string of appearances from the bench with the French selection, including a remarkable one against the All Blacks.
Clumsy and uncoordinated
Some have innate talent. Others need work. Lots of work. This is the case with Guillard. For Olympic Midday Bruno Rousserie, former educator of the French international, explained that the latter presented obvious shortcomings. “He was a boy who didn’t know how to run. For a long time he had a funny way of running like he was uncoordinated. We also said that he was not very skilled with his hands but that he had incredible strength in his arms”confirms Gilles Renand, the head of the Maurepas-Elancourt rugby school, at Parisian. Given the young player's performances today, those days now seem far away…
Educated at a good school
Mathieu Bastareaud, Judicaël Cancoriet, Yacouba Camara, Sekou Macalou, Cameron Woki, Léo Barré… The list of players who passed through or trained in the Massy training center is long. And we can add Mickaël Guillard. After starting rugby at RC Maurepas-Elancourt then at Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, the second or third row joined the brilliant Massicois training center. An intelligent choice for the Lyonnais who could have chosen Racing 92, formerly in the ranks of this solid player. It is also in Massy that Guillard took his first professional steps, with 14 Fédérale 1 matches played between 2019 and 2020.
Impressive versatility
Mickaël Guillard is a player with a rare profile. At least, at a professional level. This guy of 1m97 and 113 kilos can indeed play in both positions of the second row, that is to say with numbers 4 and 5. Better still, given his “chest”his mobility and his power, the native of Trappes can also play in all positions of the third line (6, 7, 8). Last season for example, and in his 21 starts (with the French team and with Lyon), Guillard played nine matches in 8, eight matches in 5, two in 7, as well as several entries in the 4 and 6 positions. “From 4 to 8, we know we can count on him”entrusted Lyon manager Fabien Gengenbacher to The Team. A real Swiss army knife.
Moving story
Behind this colossus there is also a moving story. Her mother, of Malagasy origin, learned at the age of 23 that she would never have children. Despite all possible treatments, nothing works. “I finally made up my mind,” she detailed to Olympic Midday. And yet… A year later, Assiaty learned – without believing it – that she was expecting a child who would be born on December 10, 2000 in Trappes. The relationship between mother and son has always been close. Assiaty often went to Mickaël's training sessions and gave everything for him.
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