They never stop sniffing out nuggets. Since their arrival at the head of the XV of France, Fabien Galthié and his staff have unearthed a UFO per season. After Mohamed Haouas, Gabin Villière or even Melvyn Jaminet, it is Thibaud Flament (24 years old) that we discover. For his first cape and his first tenure, the second row signed a remarkable performance, author of a test, in a team which nevertheless delivered a mixed performance against Argentina on Saturday night.
Before the meeting against the Pumas, this is how Fabien Galthié presented the player: “It is a second line with a particular profile. A globetrotter, passed through Argentina, England.” For him, the presence of Thibaud Flament in the France team is obvious, he even calls for a form of “destiny”. “As his father said, Thibaud has always been inhabited by this flame. He fell asleep every night with the jersey of the XV of France hanging next to his bed, it was his last vision before falling asleep”, continued the coach.
He imposed his talent. By his presence in training, on a daily basis, it is a player who came to get his jersey in the locker room.
Fabien Galthié, coach of the Bluesin press conference
If his debut was not as shattering as that of Melvyn Jaminet (3 games, 41 points) during the tour in Australia – the rear had benefited from a more efficient collective – the Toulouse made a solid copy in a XV long in difficulty. We remember a sequence of two big tackles in quick succession to stop the advance of an Argentinian offensive; he also ends up best French tackler with eleven achievements. Above all, the second row was illustrated by sharp races, including the magnificent interval capture on a service from Jalibert who offered the Blues the first try of the match. “He allowed the team to win this first meeting”, even greeted the coach of the Blues after the meeting.
Sequences where we were able to admire qualities that all his coaches unanimously underline: mobility, physique, speed, creativity. “Last year, his match against Brive marked me. He went to jump over the defenders to pass with the ball”, begins Pierre-Henry Broncan. The current manager of Castres had spotted Thibaud when he coached Bath in England, before slipping a word to Ugo Mola, the Toulouse coach, and to the staff of the XV of France. “He is capable of a similar gesture because he does not have a French or English rugby culture. He has not gone through training centers or selections in youth teams. He can try. things that you do not see in players who are a little too robotic by the classic course. He has that freshness, and as he is a former 10 training, he makes gestures capable of surprising his opponents, but also his partners”, he abounds.
We can say that with his atypical course, it could have been complicated to go from the rear to the front, but not at all. The fight, he’s got that in his head, in his blood, it’s something he should get from his father. This aggressiveness, this crazy dog side.
Kevin Paramore, Thibaud’s trainer in U18 in Belgiumto franceinfo: sport
Because if Thibaud is now playing in the second row, number 4 flocked in the back, it is at the opener position that he was trained. It was in Brussels where he moved at the age of 3, to follow his father Eric, also a rugby player, that he started rugby at ASUB Rugby Waterloo. A club where he left a vivid memory. “He was playing in the opening half or at the back depending on our needs, but we were already starting to ask ourselves the question of making him play in the second row. Let’s say he did not yet have the kilos that go with his height, he was very late “, remembers Kevin Paramore, his coach in U18.
Its passage at the front therefore does not surprise the Brussels resident, “proud” like the rest of the club, to observe such a trajectory. “I remember very precisely a match in Georgia where we arrive with a reduced squad, continues Kévin Paramore. They have impressive builds very young, the little Georgians. In front of them, many are impressed. Ours are falling like flies and next to them there was Thibaud. He defended like a lion for 80 minutes, tackling very low in the legs, without complaining. If you don’t have a mind, you never become a good rugby player. He has always had it “, he supports.
In addition to his physical and technical qualities, the Golgoth (2.03 m), marked from an early age by his ability to listen and his speed of learning. “He was a nice kid, very diligent, receptive to instructions. There was no need to repeat things to him several times, it came rather naturally to him”, relates Kevin Paramore. An application that he has not lost over the years, on the contrary. A week after his arrival in Toulouse, international back Thomas Ramos called him “serious and diligent boy” who “already knows all of our systems.”
“He has a fairly impressive ability to listen and transcribe, we feel that he is a player who has no time to waste. Everything you say to him, he takes it, he plays it back. levels every time he steps onto the pitch. He’s a player with a bright future ahead of him. “
Jean Bouilhou, forwards coach at Stade Toulousainto franceinfo: sport
Further proof, if needed, the 24-year-old keeps a notebook that follows him everywhere. “English training is square, I like having my little notebook with all the information, all the combinations in touch, etc. Whether it is at the level of the game plan, the mental preparation, It helps me a lot, it allows me to arrive relaxed and ready to rock out on the matches“, he shared on France Bleu Occitanie several months ago.
An evolution in the mental approach of his practice of rugby which did not escape his former Belgian coach. “He seems more relaxed, less borrowed, he seems to let go more than before. It’s nice to see.” For Pierre-Henry Broncan, this change is partly linked to his adventuring at Loughborough University in England, before his internship at the French Embassy in Argentina and at the Newman club, then to his professional debut in the Premiership. among the Wasps. “Thibaud has a university course, he saw something else, he did not know only rugby, that’s why he has a cool head. For him, rugby is a game. It is also the prototype of the university rugby player that we lost in France. There, the kids train every day, their schedule is arranged as much as possible to support them. The coaches are very competent, they are rugby professionals not PE teachers. English university rugby is our ProD2. “
“He is a graduate, he knows very well that with his school baggage he will be able to work later. He does not say to himself ‘if I do not make it in rugby what am I going to do?’ So he can approach matches like Argentina saying to himself ‘I’m going to have as much fun as possible.’ “
Pierre-Henry Broncan, coach of Castres and close to Thibaud Flamentto franceinfo: sport
Despite all these qualities, the CO coach did not expect such a rapid outbreak of his protégé. “The rise is still meteoric. When he left for Stade Toulousain, I was not thinking of the France team, even though I was very afraid that the English and Eddie Jones would ask him for a match and afterwards. ‘was done for the Blues. Even if, he is still 2m03, he is athletic, he goes fast, with hands and a brain, he has all the characteristics of the high level “, he concludes.
A fate already unlike any other, which will have led him far from France, to come back grown up and able to win in a few weeks as an indisputable holder at the Stade Toulousain before scratching -excuse us for the little- a European Cup and a Brennus shield. The “flame” evoked by Fabien Galthié allowed Flament to see life in pink under the red and black jersey and to dream of a future that we hope will also be brilliant under the blue tunic.