Landed at the end of the transfer window in Lyon in the name of a last minute reshuffle within the Racing squad, the versatile Martin Méliande quickly made his mark within the Rhone squad, to the point of honoring La Rochelle his first start of the season.
You were the surprise guest of Lou’s recruitment, whose arrival on loan was only made official at the very last moment, in July… What exactly happened this summer?
When I finished last season with Racing, I really thought I would stay at the club. And in the end, my loan came through at the last minute, during the holidays. In fact, Lou had expressed interest in me earlier in the season, but there were still a few details to iron out. Initially, we talked about a loan with Racing, who didn’t really agree. But Lyon insisted and in the end, Racing agreed that it was the best solution for everyone. Suddenly, everything came together quickly. And things were resolved by video…
We imagine that for you, the change was brutal, even though you played for several seasons not far from Lyon, in Bourg-en-Bresse…
The first thing that pleasantly surprised me in Lyon was obviously the infrastructure. As the Gerland site had been used as a base camp by the All Blacks during the World Cup, everything is new, functional… The club itself, I didn’t really know it but I immediately had an idea. a good feeling with him, without being able to explain why. Spontaneously, I told myself that I would be happy here. And since my arrival, everything has gone well. The group is very friendly, it was really very easy to integrate into it. You quickly feel at ease there.
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You were mainly recruited as a fullback. And yet, as in Racing, it is at the opening that you will honor your first tenure. Risk ?
Basically, I’m a versatile 10-15 but when I signed with Lou, it was originally to play a little more at the back. I interested them in this position because, due to my profile, I can bring other qualities than players like “Tchap” (Alexandre Tchaptchet, Editor’s note) or “Nini” (Davit Niniashvili). But I made it clear that I wanted to be able to maintain this versatility when opening, that I also wanted to train there. So, since the start of the season, I have been training for both positions. And even if I started the friendly matches and made my appearances at full-back, I will start in 10 this weekend. Which doesn’t bother me at all.
One of Lou’s recurring problems concerns his camp outings. For which a more “managerial” profile than yours can prove valuable, particularly externally. Suffice to say that you will play a big card in La Rochelle with a view to the rest of the season…
It’s true that for certain matches, a profile like mine can be interesting for the staff, as that of others can be in other contexts. Having Alexandre Tchaptchet or Davit Niniashvili in the squad obviously allows us to offer different options in relation to the strategies we want to put in place.
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You will also be given the role of scorer. Have you ever started a Top 14 match with this responsibility?
(he marks a long time of reflection) In certain matches with Racing, I stumbled, but no, never from the start.
What to put a little more pressure on yourself?
No, no more than that. We’ll see how I handle it on game day, but for now, it’s okay (smile).
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