Maxime Médard will have played with many great players both at Stade Toulousain and in the French team. Among them, Yohan Huget has a special place.
A time adversaries in the youth team, the two backs met at Stade Toulousain and in the France team. Yohann Huget was not aware of his ex-partner’s decision but he already wished him by SMS “Welcome to the circle of retirees”.
What will you remember from Maxime Médard’s career?
Yohann Huget: “He was the man of a club, and the man who never gave up. And that’s rare. And in any case, as we see many testimonies, he’s someone who carried high the colors of France, which carried high the colors of Stade Toulousain around the world. So also sad to see him leave.”
Will we find this type of player? Attached to a single club, attached to the shirt?
It’s unique, but I think that once you’re at Stade Toulousain, it’s hard to leave. When we say we want to leave, we go around the other clubs, we see what is being done elsewhere and we realize that we are in a certain comfort. The players who left never find the same atmosphere, the same collective or the same club.
So you have to know why you are leaving and what are the reasons for leaving. From that moment, we take stock. But I think that of the players today, like those of the new generation of Stade Toulousain, there are very few who will leave.
If you had to explain to a young person who hasn’t necessarily experienced Maxime Médard’s career, what was his style of play?
You just have to look at Stade Toulousain today. He was raised from the seed of Stade Toulousain and Guy Novès. A Clément Poitrenaud, a Maxime Médard, they are in continuity, in line in terms of the game of what is done today. Today, a Thomas Ramos at the back is the same thing.
Regarding his career, we can cite today a Romain Ntamack: at the club since he was very young, who has had his blood flowing in red and black since he was five years old.
Can you tell us about your relationship that you both had, about this special bond between you and Maxime Médard?
Our bond was quite special because we knew each other in adversity. When he was in the youth team at Blagnac, I was at the Stade. We met at the training center. We were built by always wanting to be better than the other. Like two brothers who always want to be the best on the pitch.
It was to the one who always did more in training, the one who always wants more in the weight room, the one who always does more during recoveries…
So we carried ourselves through adversity by creating a very strong bond on the ground. So much so that as soon as Max did something on the pitch, I could anticipate it, a bit like the relationship between a Vincent Clerc and a Clément Poitrenaud.
And this adversity, was it beneficial?
Sure. At Stade Toulousain, we are educated in competition. Moreover, we could see when there was a little less competition within the Stadium, there were a little less results. It’s part of our rugby education.
Guys Novès, Ugo Mola, the recruiters added lots of players to our positions to keep this competition alive, to put them in our hands. With Maxime, we have always tried to be present because we have the fiber of this club. We love the Stadium, the supporters… They have seen us grow and that’s what’s most important.
His first professional match dates back to 2004. He played 18 years at a high level. Such a long lifespan, what inspires you?
If we trace his career, it’s incredible. Look how many times he got up and how many times he won titles. He is someone who has always questioned himself and he is someone, for me, who has been an example in the workplace. This ability to be reborn from its ashes each time when everyone had buried it.
He was a discreet player, with despite everything a real role in the locker room of the Stadium?
He created his respect on the pitch. He was respected by everyone, especially in the locker room.
Afterwards in these same locker rooms, we were a bit like the animators. We put water in the shoes or tied a few knots in the sleeves. The match lasts 80 minutes, but the moments we experience in the locker room are all week long, that’s all the more important. This is what I miss the most since my retirement. It’s not necessarily the matches but rather this atmosphere.