This is the story of a homecoming for Arnaud Mignardi. The Auscitain returns to his birthplace, dictated first by a desire to get closer to his family. “We have a family project and we are going back to the Gers” explains Arnaud Mignardi. But that didn’t necessarily mean that he would put on the cleats again. The former Brive center can be explained quite easily: “I always said to myself that I would have liked to come full circle by finishing, in the club at which I started in Auch. I would not have taken over in any club. It’s really because it’s my training club. This is where I played my first match in the Top 16 in 2004. I always started from the principle that we must give back what we have been given. I couldn’t see myself going home and not lending a hand. “
Play, “something I miss”
The center, who had felt a very strong emotion when he left Corrèze after nine seasons and 200 matches, had very quickly rebounded in Pro D2 at Mont de Marsan, in the Landes. Except that the season was aborted, because of the coronavirus epidemic. “I had a period of disgust when I stopped” he explains very quietly. “Benoît August, the president of US Dax, gave me this opportunity to train with Dax and moreover, I thank him for it. It allowed me a little bit to see that the rugby below also suited me and that I missed it.”
“When I took out balls to train them, I wanted to do what I wanted to play at the weekend.”
After two seasons coaching three-quarters of Dax, the 36-year-old has also taken a step back. “I also understood why I was boring as a player” laughs the center. “It’s true that when you go to the other side, you realize a lot of things, and that the players are not that easy. They ask a lot and they don’t necessarily see the efforts that are made on the side.”
What role for Arnaud Mignardi?
This period, where he coaches three-quarters, also allowed him to keep fit for two years. “I did training with the Dacquois. I took up the muscle a little there two months ago. Afterwards, I’m not someone who has a morphology to grow quickly. So I’m still in good shape”.
However, the player does not intend to arrive as a star on the ground of Auch. “I’m really going there in all humility. I’m really going there to try to lend a hand to the players. Afterwards, will I play regularly? Will I be a second knife or will I’ll be there just to help out?” With his outspokenness, Arnaud Mignardi adds: “It will depend on my level. If I suck, if I’m ridiculous, I’ll quickly see it and it’s me who will turn the page very quickly. Afterwards, if I feel good and I have good performance, or at least I really give them a hand, I will continue”.
Bison, as he is called in Corrèze, nevertheless keeps an eye on the results of Brive where he still has friends. “There’s Arnaud Méla, Jean-Baptiste Péjoine, Obé Shvelidze, with whom I played, Thomas Acquier and Saïd Hirèche who are still in the circuit…so of course, I still have chemistry with Brive” he adds.
Arnaud Mignardi will return to Limousin next season, since Auch is playing in National 2 like USA Limoges.