“It’s a lot of pride,” confides the former coach of the French Rugby sevens team

Jérôme Daret, former coach of the French Rugby sevens team, voted best coach in the world, was the guest of Club Info on franceinfo on Sunday.

“It’s a lot of pride”confided, Sunday December 15, in Le Club Info on franceinfo, Jérôme Daret, former coach of the French rugby sevens team, named best rugby coach of the year at the World Rugby Awards at the end of November.

“It’s quite huge because, when you’re a coach, you don’t necessarily look for this kind of reward,” underlines the one who led the Blues from rugby 7 to the Olympic title during the Paris-2024 Games. As a coach, “we are always focused on the performance of the team, transforming people, ensuring that people come together to seek to build positive emotions”explains Jérôme Daret.

But he wants to share the reward. “It doesn’t just belong to me. It also belongs entirely to the French rugby sevens team and in a much more global way, to the entire ecosystem that has put itself behind us to seek the holy grail of Paris-2024.” He wants to greet “the French Rugby Federation and the National Rugby League” who have “well supported” the team. The coach doesn’t forget either “the close and fine collaboration of the clubs“which allowed “to have the players ready, at the right time, to be able to perform, to be in the spotlight”. “It’s a little bit of all that that transpires in this title.”

After the Olympic title, Jérôme Daret remains “impacted” by the “positive energies and the emotions that it created”. “Every time I meet people, they tell us about having had a lot of fun, and then crying in the stadium or in front of their TV screen. That’s what touches me the most.” With his players, he admits that they did not “not realized” of what they have “managed to do”. “But we know that we created extremely positive emotions. And that’s pretty huge. It’s something that stays and that we want to surf for a long time.”

Jérôme Daret also pays special tribute to the international Antoine Dupont, captain of the French XV, who was part of the Blues’ Olympic rugby sevens epic. “It was the lighter that lit the fuse of the firecracker to have a beautiful fireworks display at the finish”assures the former coach. “It’s always a privilege to have one of these elite players who belongs to French rugby.” Antoine Dupont is “an exceptional player who allowed us to solidify a standard that was quite high for the France team.”

Jérôme Daret recalls that the French rugby sevens team finished last season “fourth in the world” and was “in a very positive dynamic”. The captain of the XV of France “bring cement and solidity to what was being done”adds the former coach. “It’s always great to have that kind of character with you.”