Q: After announcing your international retirement at the end of August, you tried the English adventure by signing with Wasps just before they went bankrupt. How did you experience it?
ANSWER: "Galley, arch-galley! I had been living a great thing for six weeks: I was well integrated, I felt that I brought something to the girls, a little +French flair+ to the team, I was progressing in English... And suddenly, the apocalypse! As I was determined to stop my career in England, I did not give up and I looked for a new club, a new job, I needed a visa to play and work. It was quite scary, I said to myself +but what am I going to live on?+. Everything is expensive here. It's the crisis after Brexit, transport... It was complicated, a real ordeal, doubts, no support. So in January, after signing for Harlequins, who only pay me ++ my rent, I decided to stop rugby for good in June."
Q: England is No. 1 in the world, the English league reputed to be the best in the world. What do you think?
A: "In the English Premiership play the best players in the world: they are powerful, very pragmatic in the brand areas, very professional in their preparation, with a very +pro+ staff. Everyone is motivated and uplifted, each one works like crazy, with healthy competition: at Quins, there are twenty-seven internationals out of fifty players! But that's the tip of the iceberg because what worries me a little bit for the English women, and gives me hope for the future of rugby in France, is the way you learn the game."
Q: Would the training be less efficient in England?
A: "In France, you learn rugby in an intelligent way, adapting to the opponent, being a little +free style+. That's why we're good at the movement game, we're consistent with the ball in hand and we're excellent on defense. We try to understand why we do things and we are given time to learn to read the peripheral game, whereas in England we put blinders on. We put the players in boxes, making the game system very readable, very based on contact and with little adaptability especially."
Q: So you're pretty optimistic about French rugby?
A: "In France, we give our youngsters a lot more chance to play in Elite. The fact that there are fewer foreigners in our league preserves our training. The English are better at managing their highlights but it can be learned and very quickly. On the other hand, having a game intelligence, adapting to opponents, takes more time. Our young French women know how to play like this and that's what will make the difference. The English system today is in crisis: we see little of it in girls, because they are on an almost invincible generation, but it does not propose anything crazy, it is very plan-plan. For now, it's working but I think we have nothing to envy to the English."
Q: What do you think of the recent journey of the France team?
A: "For me, it ended badly, I was +blacklisted+. But they lived on these emotional lifts! From the +prep+ to the World Cup, there was a lot of tension between staff and players. Trust was broken. But it was a huge group and what they managed to do at the World Cup, in these conditions. Hat! As for this Tournament, I want to say +no stress, learn to play together and, above all, honor the jersey+."
Interview by Laure BRUMONT
© 2023 AFP