Lalinde (France) (AFP)

"+ Jeff +, it's a kid who was hanging out, he needed to be taken care of", summarize the educators of Lalinde (Dordogne), where Jefferson Poirot, with the difficult childhood, was built thanks to the rugby , his "escape", to become the pillar and vice-captain of the Blues at the World Cup in Japan.

Saint-Capraise-de-Lalinde, village of 500 souls in full purple Périgord, east of Bergerac. Bucolic, exotic, quiet, even too quiet, when we land at eight years with the codes of Franconville (Val-d'Oise), without a father left to make his life elsewhere, without benchmarks or a lot of resources, and moreover with the mixed skin.

Despite the period + Black-Blanc-Beur + post-World Cup 1998, fear of differences and free judgments accompanied the first steps of Jefferson, his older sister Noor and their mother, a nurse. From the outset, Poirot (26 years old, 31 sel.), Who will again guide the XV of France Sunday in Kumamoto against Tonga, has been cataloged as "small delinquent", "not very likely" by the parents of children of his age.

At this time, the child is "a little delivered to himself, reserved, did not speak much," recalls Martine Poyrault, head of the Lalinde rugby school. But "an educator who lived next to his home spotted him, he asked him several times to come to rugby, he came by force," she remembers for AFP.

- Second family -

Was a career born? "He was looking for himself but immediately we saw that he wanted to leave the environment in which he was", abounds William Boulanger, co-chair and current U12 coach.

The moulting is immediate, its corpulence, already imposing, is an ally to integrate, to be accepted. "Rugby was the only time he could show off, he was above the others and people pushed him because he had abilities," said Mr. Boulanger, "a kid who has potential, involuntarily, you you care a little more than the others because you feel he can get there, that's why he's so grateful. "

Quickly, the US Lalinde becomes his second family. He feels good, wears business left by the ancients and "as he did not have too much to eat, I made sandwiches," says Ms. Poyrault, become "his mother's heart".

"In tournaments, I made him double the sandwiches so he had something in his stomach, I'd have a little baby and never had to complain about his temperament, he was always very cute with me".

As the seasons go by, + Jeff + gets talked about on the grounds of the Périgord-Agenais committee. "When we had him in the team, we said + there, there is something, says Thierry Grangier, his coach at the minimes.That potential, we do not see much.

- "The opponents were scared" -

"Just before, we had Jean Monribot (3rd line of Bayonne) and when we see + Jeff + arrive behind, wow! He hated the defeat, he was mature, leader by his size already, inevitably. And the others listened and knew they could count on him ".

In each match, the teams opposed to Lalinde ask to see the licenses. "The first thing we saw was our opponents who were looking for him, they were afraid," remembers Mr. Grangier who used it as the 3rd line or in the center where "he made phenomenal differences". And refused to line him in the front line "because it would have useless for the position of pillar, we did not push in melee in small category".

His potential led him to start as a cadet for Brive, a more structured club that shaped him. And Bordeaux has reaped the fruits, then the XV of France.

But his feelings will always bring him back to Lalinde of which he was made honorary citizen in April 2016. Where his legacy is prégnant, the shirt of his first selection autographed or the press clippings reminiscent of his career that adorn the clubhouse. Where he frequently comes back to support his friends in Federal 3 or relax.

© 2019 AFP