His announcement surprised more than one, Monday, October 11. While his Grenoble club is still savoring its victory against Rouen (21-16) in ProD2, Timoci Nagusa tastes another pleasure. The 34-year-old Fijian winger has just welcomed his second child. And as the law now provides, he benefits from a paternity leave of 28 days. A carefully considered choice, which nevertheless does not fail to react in the world of rugby. Between two bottles, the main interested party answered questions from franceinfo: sport.
Why did you choose to take this paternity leave?
Timoci Nagusa: I took this opportunity to help my wife and take care of the baby. It is my duty. I only took the opportunity offered by the French government to all fathers, and I am very grateful for it. I feel fully accepted and take the opportunity to be present with my baby for his very first days on Earth.
What is your daily life since the birth of your second child?
Being with a baby is work 24 hours a day. I wake up every two hours, I can’t sleep because my baby is crying for food. It’s a lot of insomnia because we also have a child who is only thirteen months old. My wife is resting, she needs to recover after giving birth. It’s complicated, but I enjoy it every day, I enjoy every moment, every second. It is really very important. I am more than happy, I cannot describe it in one word.
– Jim Nagusa (@ NagusaJim14) October 11, 2021
Would it have been different if you had to keep playing?
I think it would have been a bit difficult. As I told you, I took this leave to be able to help my wife because she has to recover after giving birth. I also wanted to learn, to find out when my daughter was going to wake up, sleep, eat. I wanted to know his routine. Now I know all about it. And if my wife has to be away, I’ll know what to do.
You did not play at the start of the season because of a concussion protocol. How are you treating this injury and how are you preparing to come back?
I had resumed training with the team two weeks before taking my leave. At the moment, I take advantage of the fact that my children sleep a lot to carry out my physical training. I do an hour of strength training every day at 1 or 2 a.m. because my gym is open 24 hours a day. I also run. In fact, I continue to keep myself in good physical shape. When my leave is over, I will be able to replay directly if the team needs me.
– Jim Nagusa (@ NagusaJim14) October 14, 2021
This choice surprised in the world of rugby [dans les colonnes de Midi Olympique, l’ex-sélectionneur du XV de France, Philippe Saint-André disait : “Il lui faudra pratiquement sept à huit semaines de plus pour se réathlétiser et revenir. Donc en gros, le joueur n’est pas absent qu’un mois mais trois mois.”]
I hear people’s comments. I understand that they think that if I don’t practice it will take me a while to come back, to be ready. But I am not exposing my privacy. I don’t post anything on social media when I’m doing my weight training or running. People think what they want, I know what I’m doing to stay in shape despite having stopped. I have been a professional rugby player for fifteen years. I do my business because I know when I get back I’ll be ready.
Philippe Saint-André, Patrick Arlettaz or Jonathan Wisniewski have said they do not understand your decision. What do you think ?
I did not follow what they said. For me, it’s a personal choice. I don’t know how it goes elsewhere. I’m not going to tell people what to do or ask them to do like me. Everyone does what he wants. The law offers paternity leave of 28 days, but everyone is free to take it or not. For me, family is more important than anything in life. My wife is very important. When I travel with the team, when I am in training, she will stay with my children. Making this decision is also a way to protect it.
On the contrary, your choice was rather congratulated and appreciated by the general public. Do you think this can help make a difference?
You can’t imagine all the work moms do. I realize very well now that I do this job every day. I see that it is very difficult. It’s much harder to be a mom than a rugby player, because they work all day, without sleeping (laughs).