A year after his last selection with the XV of France, winger Yoann Huget showed Saturday against Argentina (28-13) that he remained, at 31, a serious contender for a place for the World Cup 2019 in Japan. Under the spell of a curse that has never allowed him to compete in a world to the end, the day of glory has arrived?
If the Blues have scored against the Pumas their first attempt in the first hand for a long time (25th), they owe it to all of their three-fourths (Serin, Lopez, Bastareaud, Fickou, Huget, Fall, Thomas) involved in the action, but especially in Toulouse. "Yoann plays very well: he makes a feint cross with me and spreads the ball," said Gael Fickou.
If the blow worked, it is also because Bastareaud "makes a good lure" , relativized Huget. Nevertheless: at 31, the N.11 has completely revived in selection (he has 52) with this good match that breakthrough symbolizes.
A month earlier, in mid-October, Huget was not yet on the initial list of coach Jacques Brunel. Recalled after the withdrawal of Wesley Fofana, he took advantage of the injury of another center of Clermont, Damian Penaud, during the defeat against South Africa (26-29), to regain a place directly.
"It was like a first," smiled Huget, whom Brunel had not yet given a chance in 2018. His last selection was on November 18, 2017, a year ago, during a grim reverse same Springboks (18-17) that would sound the death knell of former coach Guy Novès.
November 2017: "a fault"
"I was out by the little door , admits Huget, who, like other executives of the Blues (Picamoles, Serin), has experienced a big slack in the fall of 2017. " Every morning, when I got up, I had a little pain, " recalls the Ariégeois, who does not declare forfeit. "It's a mistake," he says. "We are so attached to this jersey ... We must take a step back and say that we are not 100%. "
Unsuccessful for Brunel's debut at the Six Nations Tournament, Huget seems out of the running: "We say that heads have fallen, that there is a new group, a new oxygen. We work calmly in his corner, we try to come back with his club because only the club can bring us to the team of France . And if Toulouse finishes 3rd in the regular season, Huget has his share of merit (19 games, 10 tries). A virtuous circle that brings him back today to Marcoussis. "I hope he will become aware of what he is," said Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, the coach of the back of the XV of France, who knew him in Toulouse.
France / South Africa: the lost illusions, the summary of the defeat of the XV of France (18-17) #FRAAFS #rugby pic.twitter.com/yWzWVA1vsg
- France tv sport (@francetvsport) November 19, 2017"More mature"
"He has become a more mature man and we need experience in a group. Whether he has a chasuble or holds, he has the same behavior. He made a good match but he is there in the invisible too, it's very good for the collective, " said the former half. Like Maxime Medard, another thirty on the return that convinced against the Springboks before going out on concussion against the Pumas. The two roommates took over to be traveling to Japan.
Painful memories for Huget, excluded from the group just before the 2011 World Cup for having missed three doping tests and badly injured in 2015 in the first match against Italy.
"The World Cup is still far," Huget delays. "There are a lot of expectations around other guys at my post. The group can evolve at the Tournament and even after. You have to be patient. " Without hiding his desire to be there, whatever the role: " If he (Brunel) leaves me only 5 minutes, I want to show him that he can go to war with me " .