the essential
For more than fifteen years, this adopted Commingeois has been an essential figure among Toulouse supporters, attending all of his favorite team’s matches dressed as Obélix! Portrait.
He fell into trouble at just over 30 years old. Landing in Comminges, from Normandy to join his ex-wife, Sylviane, whom he finally married a second time in 1993. Claude Jacques, a mason at the time, then settled in Mazères-sur-Salat and There he met Hervé Manent, who a few years later would become triple French champion (1994, 95, 96) under the Red and Black colors before winning the club’s first European Cup in 1996.
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“I followed his journey and that’s how I got closer to the Stadium” smiles the man who was then left pillar in team B, a position he occupied until he retired at the age of 50 years old! “We won two Pyrenees champion titles and that’s when I bought my first Obélix helmet” proudly recounts this father of seven children, all boys and girls rugby players.
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400 photos per match!
A member of the “Tolosa XV” since 2009, Claude Jacques definitively changed his identity that year, becoming a real attraction at every match at Stade Toulousain. “Last week in Bordeaux (for the semi-final, Editor’s note) I must have had my photo taken more than 400 times and it took me almost two hours to get into the stadium” laughs this close friend of Claude Cigagna , the former Toulouse captain today mayor of Mazères sur Salat. He also very often meets former hooker William Servat who lives next door. He owes this outfit a lot to his wife, who needed nearly “twelve hours of sewing” to assemble the different strips one by one. The latest version dates from the beginning of the year.
“She doesn’t really like coming to the stadium but I owe her everything because she helps me a lot in creating the character,” he confesses. Sylviane prefers to take care of her grandchildren. Those who call “Papou” and burst into laughter every time their funny grandfather turns into an irreconcilable Gaul.
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Never without his daughter…
The one who accompanies him everywhere is Virginie, one of his daughters. A “real fan” of Stade Toulousain too. The two will “obviously” be at the Vélodrome stadium this evening after a bus journey of more than six and a half hours. “I’m going as Obelix,” the Gaul says with a wink. Once dressed, you can closely observe the sixth star tattooed on the left pectoral at the beginning of June. “I promised to do it if we beat Leinster (31-22 ap in the European Cup final, Editor’s note),” laughs the man who will be 67 on Monday. It’s not his last. Eight days ago he added his favorite character next to it. A character that he intends to portray “to the end”.
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“My family knows that this outfit will go with me when this is all over,” he says, suddenly more serious. Before that, he still has “a lot of great things to experience,” including this final, which he “can see his guys winning.” He also has one dream left to accomplish: that of sharing a few moments in the players’ locker room to be “close to them for a few moments”. “I would love to, I’m going to ask Mr. Lacroix for permission,” he promises. What can we refuse to Obelix?
