He was one of the 15 novices taken by Fabien Galthié for the tour of the XV of France in Japan. At 21, Max Spring will honor his first selection, during the second test match against the Nippons Saturday, as a full-back, announced the management of the Blues, Thursday, July 7.
He only has 18 Top 14 games in the socks. And only nine this season. The inexperienced profile of Max Spring evokes the one he takes the place at the back. Melvyn Jaminet had joined the France group last year without having played a Top 14 match, when he was playing in Pro D2 in Perpignan. He had taken advantage of the June tour to explode in the eyes of the world against the Wallabies.
Revelation of last year, Jaminet will therefore give up his number 15, even though he had become the regular scorer of the XV of France, winner of the Six Nations on March 20. An experiment signed Fabien Galthié who, since taking office, has the habit of changing everything he touches into gold. Cros, Jelonch, Marchand, Woki, Willemse, Villière… A new demonstration with Spring?
The former Bayonnais is however not at his first attempt. Three weeks ago, the back pocket (1.73m for 75kg) surprised his world. Surprise holder in the 15th Barbarians (led by Fabien Galthié) against England, Max Spring scored a superb try. At the restart 10 meters from his line, after a relay from Sekou Macalou, he was still there, 90 meters further, to recover a refocusing kick and flatten between the poles. A sequence that recalled Philippe Saint-André’s test of the century against these same English in 1991.
From a Basque mother and a Maori father, the young Max is bottle-fed with an oval balloon from the cradle. His father had come to play rugby in France in the 90s in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Having become an educator in the club of the town, dad Spring started his eldest there. Max also practiced Basque pelota. And it was at the age of 15 that he joined the hopeful pole of Rowing, the heart club of the family, in which he played at the opening. He then left the club and his post in 2019 for Racing 92.
Asked about his teammate in the France team at a press conference, Yoan Tanga is dithyrambic. “On the pitch he is a great player with exceptional qualities, does he concede. He is strong on the basics of his position: high balls, footwork, he likes to raise. He smells like rugby.” Technical, fast, endowed with a good reading of the game and skilful with his left foot, Spring was able to dispel doubts and impose himself within the ultra-competitive workforce of Racing in his position, in the middle of Zebo, Dulin (since gone to La Rochelle) or Dupichot.
This left foot precisely is what was lacking in this XV. Jalibert, Lucu, Jaminet or even Ntamack: all are right-handed by training. Spring can bring alternation, and help unbalance opposing defenses. An additional threat in a team that has no shortage of gifted people.
Tuesday morning at the Toyota training ground, Max Spring, in blue, faced Melvyn Jaminet, in orange. Of the two young prodigies, it was the first who stood out. Spring still took advantage of a raise, tapped to follow over the defense, and put back inside for Lucu who was going to score. In the race for tenure, it almost looks like a fuss.