Top 14 – Sacha Valleau ends his career: “I was told that I had the back of a 75-year-old man”

So you end your career prematurely. Can you explain to us why?

I have had a back injury since the end of last season, before the club (Vannes, editor’s note) won the Pro D2 final and moved up to the Top 14. During an internship with the team, we did a military course of cohesion at the end of the season. While skipping an exercise, I felt a pain in my back. And since then, I have never been able to move past it. I pushed myself to train, to make it to the end of the season as best I could. And, in fact, it completely gave out during a workout.

Have you found the cause?

I had tests which revealed that I had four herniated discs in my lower back. By doing additional imaging and then going to see the back specialist in France, Pierre Bernard, we realized that I had a disc, the last one between the pelvis and the lower back, which was completely eaten away. There are literally holes in it, actually. This causes my bones to rub directly against each other and creates daily suffering, which is already difficult to live with even without doing sport. I was told that I had the back of a 75 year old man.

I haven’t had a normal full night’s sleep in over six months

How does this materialize on a daily basis?

I am unable to trot. It may not seem like much, but sport is my whole life. I wake up at night whenever I move too much. What’s most debilitating is that I haven’t had a normal full night’s sleep in over six months. Whenever I turn over in my sleep, I am awakened by back pain. Until recently, I couldn’t drive. When I take the train, I have to stand in the bar car. A one-hour plane ride is very complicated. I realized, when I wanted to play with my dog, that it was impossible for me.

What about next?

The hope is to say to ourselves that today, only time can possibly improve that. The fact of no longer having contact, of no longer practicing a traumatic sport could allow me, in the future, to have better living conditions. By stopping running, tackling, making contact, my back problems will perhaps “stabilize”.

So surgery is not a possibility?

There was only one surgery that was really possible: it was having a lumbar prosthesis fitted, which is still a very heavy operation. You should know that we open the abs 25 or 30 cm to irreversibly remove what is left of my disc. For people under 40, this is extremely rare. And for high-level athletes, this is almost unheard of. On lumbar prostheses, targeted L5 S1, there are only four cases at the moment which concern two really sporty people: a rugby 13 player and a Pro B basketball player. And both stopped after the installation of the prosthesis, having more suffering.

I went so far as to do treatments based on plants, mushrooms

Have you tried any alternatives?

I spent the first six months going all over France, seeing all types of medicine possible. I’ve tried everything, from the physiotherapist to the osteopath, to the chiropractor, almost to people with a bit of voodoo. I went so far as to do herbal and mushroom treatments. I really wanted to heal myself and, little by little, a form of fear began to enter my head. Telling myself that at 28 years old, am I going to have this pain all my life? My number one goal, “my dream” you could say, which was to play in the Top 14, was abandoned. I simply had the goal of returning to a normal life.

This “little death”, as we call it, which is the end of your career, have you accepted it?

That’s a good question, I don’t know if I’ve completely accepted it. (He pauses.) What is terrible today is not following my dreams. When I left the France 7 team, I only thought about playing in the Top 14. Today, the club is there, and I know that I will never set foot there, that I will not play any minute in my life in the Top 14. Where I see the little death aspect that you mention, it is for the athlete that I am in general. This is potentially telling me that I will never be able to get a license to play football with my friends at the end of my career, that I will never be able to do a half-marathon with my loved ones, or do long treks in the mountains. For the sports lover that I am, it’s really complicated. Afterwards, I put things into perspective. I manage to have a bearable life, let’s say. There are so many people worse than me.

Have you identified the reasons for these problems?

I think the truth is that I was already a slightly more fragile player than the others. I know that during my career, I could never afford to go out after matches, because otherwise I would often be in pain. For ten years, I really had to have a healthy lifestyle, otherwise I was prone to injury.

Would you have done things differently if you had known it would end so soon? Maybe more time at XV?

I don’t think I would have gotten anything at all, no. It’s funny because Antoine Dupont said recently that when he said he wanted to go to 7, everyone called him crazy. In another context, I remember that, when I left Pôle France, when I played at Stade Toulousain, and when I decided to join the French team at the age of 7 to 18, even he said to me: “But why Are you doing this?” Ultimately, I traveled all over the world, played against the best players in the world – Sonny Bill Williams, Quade Cooper, the Ioane brothers – made the Olympics and played in a World Cup. in San Francisco in front of 75,000 people. I was also able to challenge Bryan Habana in Cape Town, in front of 65,000 people. I also remember a semi-final with Virimi Vakatawa against François Hougard, Cheslin Kolbe… Frankly, I tell myself that I was really right to listen to myself. And, in truth, the career I’ve had, I’m super proud of it.

What do you want people to remember about you after these ten years?

If people said about me that I always had a smile and that I was a good guy, I would have succeeded in my career! Coaches often criticized me for being too nice, in training, all that, but, in fact, it was me. And if people keep a good image of me, I will have succeeded in everything.

Where will your life go from now on?

I had the chance to taste match commentary, and it’s true that I really like it. It’s a way to keep one foot in the world of sport, particularly rugby. To continue to experience emotions and to make people experience emotions. That’s also why I loved rugby. I was going to see guys who made me dream. Today, I am lucky, by stopping at 28, to have almost all of my friends, my best friends, who still play. This can also be a strength for this consultant role. And I’m obviously not closing the door to other sports, particularly football, even if rugby remains my domain.