Trying to decipher the Frisch phenomenon means accepting that not every path is mapped out. Or at least linear. And that while some are predestined to touch the stars since birth, others have to hang on. Because before becoming “the French international Antoine Frisch (28 years old, 2 caps), star recruit of the Toulon summer”, little Antoine from Fontainebleau had to row to achieve his dream.
But that’s good: taking alternative routes has never scared him. “Giving up has never been an option. It’s been inside me since I was little. I didn’t choose it. It’s been in my head since I was born. I know from the day I put on my first cleats that I will never give up. That I will never stop until I succeed.”
In the footsteps of his big brother
And to meet Antoine Frisch, you don’t have to go to Bristol or Munster, but rather to Fontainebleau, at the end of the 90s.
“Actually, I was born in Saint-Cloud. But yes, my first memories go back to Fontainebleau, where my parents moved when I was 3/4 years old.” Well surrounded by his mother, a university English professor, his father who works in international trade at Jacquet and his brothers Xavier (three years his senior) and Matthew (four years his junior), Antoine Frisch had a peaceful childhood.
In a family context where no one has a real appetite for rugby. However, Antoine falls into the pot at a very young age. “I spent my time with my big brother and his friends. And one day, to follow his friend Théo, he signed up for RS77, the Fontainebleau club… so I followed him! I was 4 years old at the time, and it lit a very special flame in me.”
“An obsession”
He doesn’t know it yet, but his life has just changed. “It became an obsession. I lived only for this ball.” Rather discreet in life, Antoine Frisch reveals himself on the field. And quickly, he shares his “biggest dream” to his teammates: “Playing for the French team. As far back as I can remember… I never dreamed of anything else, I was possessed.”
And that’s good, the young opener is not clumsy. “I wasn’t crossing the field, but I felt like I had something, that I understood the game.” He then stood out, to the point of being selected for inter-sector selection, then for the Île de France selection, before joining the PUC in Cadets.
He then plotted his course and applied to the Pôle Espoirs Lakanal… but was not accepted. “This is my first failure. I thought it was an essential passage… it hurt me.” But when one door closes, Antoine Frisch opens another. That’s how he entered the Massy training center, where he stayed from 2013 to 2015. “I understood that if the door was slammed in your face, you had to go out the window.” In Massy, Frisch had a blast and stood out. But in 2015, as he got closer to his dream, the future international reassured those who imagined him joining the Massicois pro group to… go to England, in order to study international trade for a year.
“At that age, you had to play”
On the benches of Loughborough University, he met a certain Thibaud Flament. The two friends then find themselves playing for their university. “There were six teams, ranked by level. I found myself in 4th. It’s a bit hard, but imagine: Thibaud was playing in 5thhe laughs. Lunar, when we know the rest of its story.”
After an unconvincing year in England, Frisch finally decided to cross the Channel again. And signed with Stade Français in 2016. Enough to imagine that he was (finally) about to embrace his destiny? Except that in two seasons, despite being a starter in the Espoirs, the fly-half only appeared on one match sheet with the pros. During a friendly. “I lacked experience. Probably audacity too. I was in competition with Morné Steyn and Jules Plisson, we were playing to stay up, there was crazy pressure… The opportunity didn’t present itself. Or I didn’t know how to seize it. So I decided to leave. I could have waited, but I was convinced that at that age, you had to play.”
“Give up on my dream? Believe it!”
In 2018, at the age of 22, not at all inclined to give up, Antoine Frisch agreed to join Tarbes, in Fédérale 1. Step back to jump better? “Because it didn’t work out at Pôle Lakanal and Stade Français, was I going to give up on my dream? Believe it! So even when it seemed impossible, I held on. My dream of playing for the French XV dictated my choices. And the first step was to play professionally.”
After a remarkable season, he finally leaves the Hautes-Pyrénées for Massy. Still in Fédérale 1, therefore, but with a more ambitious club. Moving forward, slowly, but moving forward… This is still what will drive the one who now occupies the position of center (read elsewhere) to join Rouen the following summer, while the club seeks to perpetuate itself in Pro D2. Step by step, Antoine Frisch progresses. When finally, in the summer of 2021, his name begins to circulate in Top 14. “But I don’t get any offers, so I think I’ll stay in Rouen. Or sign for a top club in Pro D2. Except that my career changes after a phone call from Pat Lam, the manager of Bristol.” After twenty years of dreaming of top level, Antoine Frisch finally joins a first division club… in England. “Why did Pat Lam trust me? Who knows… In any case, he gave me an unexpected boost.”
Revenge? “I don’t like that word”
The rest is history: after an excellent season at Bristol, Antoine Frisch joined Munster where, in two seasons, he established himself as one of the best centres on the Old Continent. He was then courted by the Irish selection, but ended up choosing the French XV last July.
While it would be an understatement to say that his early career took a while to take off, Antoine Frisch ended up sliding down the steps of the top level two by two. And now he is back in France through the (very) front door.
His best revenge? “I don’t like that word, because French rugby didn’t owe me anything. I probably wasn’t ready to seize the opportunities when they presented themselves. So I had to work a little harder. And I’m proud of the path I’ve taken. Of course, if I’d been promised a place in the French youth teams, then to discover the Top 14 at 18, I would have signed with both hands. But it didn’t happen that way, and it taught me to adapt, to bounce back. I have no hard feelings.” A way of taking a step back that commands admiration, for a player who never stops pushing the limits. The rest will now be written in Toulon. And between you and us, we tend to believe that the beautiful story is only just beginning…
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