Amateur rugby trophies in Lot-et-Garonne: Daniel Dubroca has never forgotten his first coach in Casseneuil

While some keep them as relics, as traces of their career where blood and tears – of pain or joy – have nourished the sacred earth, Daniel Dubroca no longer has a single jersey at home. Those of the French team, those of the SUA, he gave them all. With all his heart. “All the memories are here,” he says, pointing to his temple with his index finger.

At 70 years old since last April, “Dubroc” is a living legend of rugby. “Legend is a big word,” he corrects. “If I was recognized as a high-level athlete, it is thanks to Agen and it is thanks to my instructor from Casseneuil René Lassus. He had a double role. He was a Spanish and sports teacher. Every Wednesday, we took part in all the tournaments that could be held in Lot-et-Garonne.”

Player, captain, coach, president Daniel Dubroca has experienced it all at the SUA. “I even wiped down the locker room when Nelson wasn’t there,” he laughs.

“If it hadn’t been for Agen, there wouldn’t have been the rest”

Family helper on the farm in Aguillon, his hometown, he signed his first license with Sporting in 1970. He was 16 years old. Cadets. “It was the discovery of a big family”. He admits to having lived his best years with this group. “Some then played in Valence d’Agen, Nérac or Lavardac. We still meet up once every 3 or 4 months to replay the war around a good meal”.

At 21, he played one match out of two in Agen in first. In 1975, he played the final of the Yves du Manoir challenge against Béziers in Colombes. In 1976, he was French champion at the Parc des Princes. A victory over… Béziers. A young, light, tough, agile right-wing pillar, he notably entered the history of Agen with his tackle on the Béziers tightrope walker Cantoni. At the time, up front, in the front row, there were mostly farmers or masons. They didn’t need to push bars.

“If it hadn’t been for Agen, there wouldn’t have been the rest,” he smiles. The rest is not nothing: 33 selections in the French team, 24 of which were with the captain’s stripes. Daniel is a boss. In 1979, for his first cap, he went to New Zealand. The Blues won in Auckland (24-19). Until then, they had never beaten the terrible Blacks. In 1987, he was the captain of the tricolors who won the 1987 Grand Slam.

Three months later, they will be in the final of the first World Cup in the legendary Eden Park in Auckland. These guys have, he says, “forged bonds of friendship that are almost brotherly”. With Ondarts, Garuet, Lorieux, Condom Haget Champ, Erbani Rodriguez, they share a moment together every year to “measure how lucky we are”. Last June, they watched the Top 14 final in Hyères at Champ’s. “It wasn’t just the big guys. Sella, Lagisquet Mesnel were with us… They are starting to integrate”. The plan now is to go to Australia in 2027…

At the SUA for 54 years, Daniel Dubroca witnessed the success against Nevers last Friday. He savored, like a cadet who touches a ball “I am still Agenais even if you don’t see me much”. Out of sight but not out of mind.

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“Tomorrow we get back to work”

14 months ago, he sold his agricultural property in Saint-Bazeille. 60 ha of apple trees. Daniel Dubroca was an arboriculturist. He is from that generation whose DNA was not to devote itself solely to rugby. “Rugby was after work. Or during”. He therefore admits to always being a little surprised when, after a defeat, he hears the current players declare: “Today, it didn’t work, we’ll try to correct it, tomorrow we’ll get back to work”.
After a short pause, he repeats: “Get back to work.” “We mustn’t be backward, but I think they don’t know what it’s like to work. And we shouldn’t blame them. That’s the way the system is. They’re in a cocoon. They arrive with their hands in their pockets, everything is in the locker room. They don’t realize it.”
It’s hard for today’s kids to imagine preparing for an international match with the French XV. “You played on Saturday or Sunday with your club. On Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, you went up to Paris. You did two or three training sessions and you played on Saturday. On Sunday, you came back home and the Sunday after you played in your club.”
President of the SUA from 2004 to 2007, he had already become aware of the evolution of mentalities. And that was only the beginning. “I have the feeling that, these days, you don’t know if the players are there or there but with their heads elsewhere. When you see that a player playing for X has already signed for a month to play for Y.” With hindsight and the weight of experience, he is above all convinced that the best place has always been on the field as a player and this regardless of the era.

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Sponsor of the third edition of the 47 Amateur Rugby Trophies

Daniel Dubroca always reads the newspaper in the same way. He glances at the news items then opens the sports pages. He looks at the results of Sainte-Bazeille, Casteljaloux and the surrounding clubs. For him, “amateur rugby is the very essence of our game”. “Not everyone can be a professional rugby player. The clubs deserve credit for allowing young people to play rugby in conditions that are not always easy”. Daniel Dubroca will be the grand patron of the 3rd edition of the Lot-et-Garonne Amateur Rugby Trophies on Thursday, September 26. It will take place at the Espace François-Mitterrand in Boé. Friendly and festive, the event is organized by the group “La Dépêche du Midi” in partnership with the 47 committee dear to President Jean-Marc Garin. As Jacky Laurans, who was also a sponsor, pointed out, these Trophies have a scent of the Périgord-Agenais committee celebrations at the time when the committee still existed. The principle of the evening is to reward the best players and the best rugby school.