After a summer of crisis, clubs mobilize and go on the offensive

Several clubs, notably Union Bordeaux-Bègles, are implementing measures to limit the excesses that have given rise to several cases in recent months in the microcosm of French rugby.

The Oscar Jegou-Hugo Auradou affair in Argentina, the racist remarks of a fairly drunk Melvyn Jaminet, or the disappearance of the young Medhi Narjissi… French rugby has gone from a summer of World Cup 2023 to a summer of scandals in 2024. The drunken evenings and the “third half” spirit have shown their dark side, and weighed heavily on the resumption of play, with the first day of the Top 14 starting on Saturday. Faced with these excesses, several clubs have taken the lead, among which Union Bordeaux-Bègles is among the most radical.

UBB players will now be subject to random screening tests to detect traces of cocaine in their bodies, the president of the Girondin club assured Sud Ouest. This decision comes as the president of the French Rugby Federation, Florian Grill, had made the fight against this drug a priority.

Grill had called in a press conference for an “action plan” which will be presented in October following the rugby general assembly, which began on August 29 and will continue in the coming days.We have a big job to do“, admitted the president of the National Rugby League René Bouscatel during the Top 14 back-to-school press conference on Monday, September 2.

“Rugby is not a dangerous sport in itself, there is a general problem in society and rugby players cannot ignore their environment. It is our responsibility to ensure that we limit the risks.”

René Bouscatel, President of the National Rugby League

at a press conference on September 2, 2024

In addition to UBB, finalist of the French championship last season, other teams have used the return to training as an opportunity to remind people of possible excesses, particularly after matches.We had the right to it in Lyon, we must do what is necessary to send out an exemplary image” explained Lyonnais Baptiste Couilloud in comments reported by L’Equipe (subscription article).

Racing 92 has, for its part, tightened its internal regulations in recent months, with drug and alcohol checks, also by drawing lots, a measure further reinforced during the off-season in light of the latest affairs affecting French rugby.

“There are not ten thousand questions to ask, we need to tighten the clamps and try to restore the image of rugbybelieves Gaël Fickou, a member of the French team from the Paris region. Even if good things also happened with this gold medal of the French team 7s for example, these three cases are complicated. It is up to us players to take responsibility. It is all well and good to do stupid things, but we have to take responsibility for them. I have been in the French team for twelve years. We have always gone out after the matches and it has always gone well. Yes, there are excesses. They must be punished. If tomorrow, it is me, I will take responsibility.“