Patrice Collazo at Le Figaro: "Rugby really needs to restart"

Le Figaro: Are you worried about the viability of the coming season when you see positive cases in Agen, Lyon, Stade Français…
Patrice Collazo  : When you are not in control, there is always a concern. We know it can happen. There is a general awareness: the staff, the players, the spectators. After that, it is not because there is a case in a club that the whole club must be stopped. In soccer, when that happens, they take the case out, isolate it and the others continue to play. We are in a protocol that is undoubtedly too rigid, too heavy. We could make it more flexible without endangering people. When there are 20 cases, it's complicated of course, but one or two ...

The LNR asked the clubs to make players aware of the risks of external contamination…
Yes, but we cannot cut them off from all social ties either. They can be told to take precautions but not to stay home. We must educate them, not park them.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: fear on the Top 14

On August 27, Toulon will face Stade Français in Mayol in a friendly match. Do you still want to face them?
If their squad is tested and negative, I see no reason to cancel this game. I hope, already for them, that it will be settled within two weeks. Even if we are a competitor, we do not wish that on any club.

“ If we did not have to play again, by force, people will no longer think of rugby. We will be wiped off the sport map ”

The coming season will be disputed in stadiums with partial gauges. What do you think ?
Of course, with 5,000 spectators, economically most clubs would prefer not to play. But I believe that rugby really needs to restart. If we were not to play again, by force, people will no longer think of rugby. We will be wiped off the sport map. If we have to start at 5,000, well let's start at 5,000. Of course it is damaging. Also sporting, the contribution of the public being important for the players. They have been deprived of links with their supporters for six months. Who, too, live badly this distance. I hope that we can quickly increase this gauge, while respecting health standards.

In Toulon, you will have to give up the arrival of the players at the stadium on foot, in the middle of the crowd. A tradition that raised the adrenaline.
The relationship of players to rugby has changed. Some habits had to be changed. They can no longer, for example, change at 40 in the same locker room. We had trivialized certain things, the atmosphere and others. We will appreciate them all the more when they return.

" If we have to give everything on one side and have nothing on the other then yes, indeed, we will stop making efforts for the France team "

The season also promises to be special with World Rugby's desire to impose a seven-week international window this fall. Which goes against the clubs.
Already the way it's done ... It's been six months since the clubs have not played, have no revenue. So pass in force… Especially during such an exceptional year. To be honest, I thought it was better to remove international matches. But no, we do the opposite, we add more. The clubs had made efforts to let go of 42 players in the Tournament. There, we go back forced and forced. Which means that everyone sees only their personal interest. So I will see that of Toulon: that our players are well, that our public can see the best team on the field. If we are not heard, we will do what is best for us. And what is happening elsewhere ... We are going through a complicated period. If we have to give everything on one side and have nothing on the other then yes, indeed, we will stop making efforts. Given the absence of dialogue, we start from this perspective. We're going to close the hatches.

That is to say ?
I don't see myself putting my internationals to rest before this tour, and no more after, with the start of the Champions Cup. I will not deprive myself of my best players. It is therefore excessive to schedule so many international matches. It is even colossal for some who will play five or six tests, for a total of fifteen matches in a row. Unfortunately, in the middle of the game, there is always the player, caught between the club and the selection, the hammer and the anvil.

“ In the end, we're going to make a lot of people laugh. Again ”

It's still up to the clubs to sacrifice themselves. Do you always feel like you are the stuffing turkeys?
OK, the France team is an institution. But each club is also an institution. Each club has constraints, duties, but also rights. There, in addition, the clubs play their economic survival. This is also why I want to field the best possible team in each game. Because I want to do the best for my institution, the RCT. I hear that the XV of France is the showcase of our rugby. But when she's not playing, the Top 14 is also a great showcase. Continuously, not over a few weeks. It's not just the Blues. The image of rugby in everyday life is also important. We participate in the promotion of rugby, that there is a lot of it on TV, that the stadiums are full ...

READ ALSO: Top 14: the Clermont-Toulouse shock to launch the season, the final at the end of June 2021

Thirteen doubloons next season is half the championship (26 days) without your best elements ...
Usually, we know before the resumption. We adapt, we build our workforce accordingly. But here, the rules were changed along the way. We are wronged. We cannot organize ourselves. What are we going to do ? Throw young players away? It's a cookie-cutter solution. And that will disrupt the championship. Because it is also a question of ethics. In the end, we're going to make a lot of people laugh. Once again.

Read also

• Collazo au Figaro: "This period changed the relationship between players and their club"