A spotlight on the passion for rugby on the Côte d’Azur. Nice and the Allianz Riviera have been hosting the two Top 14 semi-finals since Friday June 17. A wind of ovality in a city used to vibrating for football, but which also knows how to push behind its rugby team. In the 1980s, a now defunct club from Nice had reached the semi-finals of the championship, proof of the glorious past of rugby in the city. Régis Brandinelli, president of the Stade Niçois Rugby, returns to the place of the oval ball in Nice, and discusses the future prospects for the club.
franceinfo: sport: What place does rugby occupy in Nice? Has this position changed in the ten years that you have been on the Stade Niçois governance team?
Regis Brandinelli: There has always been a history and an appetite for rugby in Nice. The thing that has evolved, compared to before, is that we did not have the level, we did not play at the right level so that the public was on fire all weekend. But today, that is changing. We have gone up three divisions in five years, we have reached a better level, and today, thanks to that, we have more and more people and a renewed enthusiasm.
How did you welcome the fact that Nice was chosen for the semi-finals?
The news was very well received. A weekend like this does a lot of good and brings a lot of fun to everyone, so it’s good for us. I think rugby is regaining its place in Nice, and it’s interesting to see and experience. It’s great, for a few days we become the center of French rugby. This is an exceptional opportunity for Nice, the lovers of Nice rugby, the Alpes-Maritimes. And that means something, it’s significant to host the final stages.
Is it also a spotlight on rugby in the south-east? Because when we talk about rugby, it’s not necessarily Nice and the region that we think of.
However, the south-east region is a big rugby region, with Toulon obviously, but Nice too. Nice hosted the final stages of the championship in 1983, won the Yves-du-Manoir challenge in 1985. The club was created in 1912 and has long played at the highest level. We did not manage to make the transition to professionalism in the 2000s, which meant that we fell far behind. But there is a public in Nice, there are lovers of the oval ball, there are good rugby players. There is everything necessary for Nice to once again become a stronghold of rugby.
Is it important to maintain this link with the public and the city for the future, especially with a view to the 2023 World Cup?
Exactly, Nice will host four World Cup matches in 2023. It is important to make the link with local supporters. There is an environment that is very favorable for us to develop. The fact that Nice is not in the Top 14 or in Pro D2 is almost an anomaly compared to the size of the city and the history of rugby. We have rebuilt everything in the club today so that we are ready, we have a first-class formation, more and more players in the French youth teams, rather good results. When you mix all that up a bit, you say to yourself that we should have good years to come for rugby in Nice.