During a long live interview, with questions from Internet users, on Friday at Figaro.fr, Bernard Laporte advocated a sacred union, "solidarity" between all the components of rugby to manage to overcome the intense crisis that this sport, stopped due to an epidemic of coronavirus. A huge challenge that he is convinced that rugby will take up.
“I am a born optimist. We will overcome this ordeal. But on condition of facing these problems together. Not each on their own, but by showing solidarity. It is together that we will save the rugby soldier. We must join forces to overcome this obstacle. ” Together, it is first, according to the president of the French Rugby Federation, the northern hemisphere with the southern hemisphere. “Saving rugby is first and foremost saving the federations. It starts there. What a drama, indeed, if New Zealand or Australian rugby were to disappear. It would be dramatic for everyone. ”
“ This is not a League fight against the Federation. That doesn't exist! "
Bernard LaporteIncluding for professional clubs that Bernard Laporte also intends to help. “This is not a League fight against the Federation. That doesn't exist! Whether it is tense or not between the Federation and the League ( in charge by supervision of professional rugby, editor's note ), it doesn't matter. Professional clubs must also be saved, insists the former coach of Stade Français Paris and Toulon. I have respect for all the people who take care of rugby, so for the people of the League. ” And to recall that "the president of the Federation is the president of all clubs, amateurs and professionals".
" If the Top 14 and the Pro D2 resume behind closed doors, government funding will be required. It's obvious »
Bernard LaporteThursday, heard by Roxana Maracineanu like other presidents of federation of collective sports (football, basketball, handball…), he thus pleaded for the Top 14 and the Pro D2. “I told the minister that professional rugby clubs are like cafes, restaurants, theaters. Without an audience, they will die. Since measures are taken for cafes, restaurants, theaters, such as charge cancellations or the like, I want the same for professional clubs. And if the championships resume in camera, government funding will be required. It's obvious. We are waiting for that, it is a certainty, "Bernard Laporte told us, ensuring that the Minister was aware of this and that she was going to" push "in this direction.
READ ALSO: Laporte and the rise of two Federal 1 clubs: "I would have liked more solidarity"
“Professional clubs are the representation of rugby in France. I must accompany them, defend them. We do not always agree with the League, as for Albi and Massy, but, when it is the case, believe me, I say it! But it is together, also at the French level, that we will save rugby. ” In this perspective, he wishes to associate professional rugby with the reforms studied by World Rugby. “To reform the international calendar, we need everyone around the table. The presidents of the French and English clubs must come. We are not against each other, insists Bernard Laporte. We sell the same product: rugby. It must be legible, which is not always the case today, and balanced. It is together that we must build the future. ”
Read also
- Laporte au Figaro: "Replay another Six Nations Tournament this fall"
