He did not hesitate to harangue the crowd of Jean Dauger, after returning the Ile-de-France scrum in the 48th minute of play with his teammates, the very one who sounded the revolt against Racing. He is Thomas Ceyte (31), the second line of Aviron Bayonnais (1.96 m for 117 kg), freshly arrived on the banks of Nive in the off-season, from Nevers where he had just five years. The native of Aubenas, in Ardèche, was the guest of 100% Rugby. The opportunity to look back on his career, his game, his integration into the Bayonne locker room. Refreshing.
Haranguing the crowd after the scrum in the 48th minute
“To be honest, we have a WhatsApp group with former Nevers players. They told me ‘first in Bayonne, you send a ola’, because in Nevers, I did it all the time and for the first game, it was out of the question. I wanted to go back on tiptoe. Then on this beautiful scrum, while there are good players in front, we recover the ball, and there, I said to myself: “Let’s go !” I raise my arms, in the stands, they all stand up and there, I say to myself: ‘Congratulations for the guy who will have to throw the key behind because we will not hear anything.’ Eventually, that was the trigger.”
The trip to the Stade Français on Saturday
“I’m not going to say loud and clear that we’re going to win at French Stadium. What we can already say is that there are key men in their workforce who will not be there. I am thinking in particular of Morgan Parra. In a way, this is a positive point for us. And then you have to see a little bit the ability we have to perform outside. In Toulon, for many, it was the first Top 14 match. It didn’t go very well, even though we scored three tries. So far, we’ve collected a lot of points. We have to rectify some things in defence. That is a question of will. It’s not very technical, it’s just communication, aggressiveness. We will see the second away game. And then with this euphoria that we have a little between us after this premiere at Jean-Dauger, the grandstand, the stadium full… we want to continue to surf on this dynamic. You shouldn’t go there with fear either. We must want to impose our game there, we must play our qualities, our players “X factors”. We are not immune to a pleasant surprise. We have to believe in our chances.
– IS
His signature in Bayonne
“My partner was pregnant, and the day she gave birth, my agent called me and told me that Bayonne was interested in my profile. I replied: “if there is Bayonne, you don’t speak more to the other clubs and we do everything to go to Bayonne.” I was at the end of the contract. It hadn’t happened to me in Nevers for a while, and my girlfriend asked me the question, laughing , ‘where would you like to go?’ _And ideally, I would say to him ‘_Bayonne’. And so it happened on the day his daughter was born. It was a good day, let’s say (laughs).”
“I had signed whether it was for the Pro D2 where the Top 14, but obviously, I preferred the Top 14. Afterwards, I was congratulated, and I answered: “I did nothing.” I arrived, the project was finished and the guys were up. It’s great to be in a stadium like that, a region like that, a city that stinks of rugby too. That’s what also makes you dream a bit, when you come from Nevers and it’s not the most passionate region around rugby, even if there are a lot of people at Pré Fleuri, but I’m happy to to be here in Bayonne. To begin, it was perhaps not the dream match, but close. The scenario, the victory, the commitment… everything I love about this sport.”
– LD
Aubenas, Béziers, Dax… before Nevers
“I started in Aubenas, at the rugby school up to the seniors. I was a little lucky because they turned professional. I was still working on the side. I was delivering furniture, sofas , etc. like that. After, supervisor in a college, and afterwards, they made me sign a professional contract, around the age of 23. We made two quarter-finals, we lost against the champion Montauban and the year after, against Aix-en-Provence.”
“Then I went to Béziers where things didn’t go very well with the manager. I wasn’t there to stay on the bench. I told him: “either I play rugby or I go back to Aubenas.” I finally found a way out in Dax. They trusted me right away. Afterwards, it was done very quickly with Nevers. We still experienced something, we wrote beautiful pages in the history of the club at the professional level and that cannot be taken away from us. Last season, we made a semi-final when the president had put in a lot less resources. There were only young people playing and the atmosphere in the group was quite huge. That’s why we play rugby. And today here I am in Bayonne.”
“Even without being a captain, I don’t forbid myself to say things”
“At Nevers I was captain because I had a little experience, seniority in the locker room and a little aura over certain players who were perhaps a little younger than me and a little more listening. In Bayonne, we’re lucky to have guys like Camille Lopez or Maxime Machenaud, or a Peio Muscarditz who, even if he’s injured right now, you feel he’s a leader. That suits me very well. good to leave the torch to them because it’s not my role. Afterwards, I’m not going to lie to you, at half-time, there were things that inflated me against Racing, I took the speaking with the forwards and I said that certain things tired me, mentioned where we needed to press, in particular the scrum. These are things that happen naturally, I don’t calculate. If I have something to say, that I feel the need, I say it.”
To listen to the full interview (18 minutes) with Thomas Ceyte, it’s HERE.
Journey
- RC Aubenas Vals (2004 – 2015)
- Sports Association Béziers Hérault (2015 – 2015)
- US Dax Rugby Landes (2015 – 2015)
- Sports Association Béziers Hérault (2016 – 2016)
- US Dax Rugby Landes (2016 – 2017)
- USON Nevers Rugby (2017 – 2022)
- Rowing Bayonne (2022 – 2023)