He landed in Roissy this Tuesday afternoon, coming from Los Angeles, with stars in his eyes, his medal still around his neck and his French team outfit on his back... but no more hair on the stone .
William Iraguha has become another man on the other side of the Atlantic: the rugby player from Massy is part of the French rugby sevens team which won the Los Angeles tournament last Sunday.
A first on the world circuit for the Blues in 19 years, which was well worth a zero ball.
This bet, the victory, the 3rd half, the contribution of Antoine Dupont and the prospect of the Paris Olympics: William Iraguha told us directly about his conquest of the West.
After this successful North American tour (3rd place in Vancouver, victory in Los Angeles), you are back in France.
Jet lag isn’t too hard?
WILLIAM IRAGUHA.
I just arrived!
It's okay, I'm holding on.
I want to see the PSG match tonight, but I don't know if I'll last until 9 p.m.!
You had dreadlocks when you left, here you are with a shaved head… Is everything okay?
(
Laughs
) It feels very weird, I touch my head every 30 seconds, but it's for a very good reason!
Cutting my hair, I thought about it more and more, I told myself it was the time to do it.
Tell us about this bet…
It caught me in Vancouver, I was talking about it with Nelson (
Epée, his teammate in the French team
) with whom I share my room.
It was me who gave him his cut with an Italian comb.
He knew me from before, when I didn't have my dreadlocks, he told me it looked better on me.
I told him OK, if we win in Los Angeles, I'll shave.
We shook hands, and that was it!
They started shaving in the locker room after the final, and Nelson finished in the bedroom.
I arrived at my mother's house in Essonne, she was coming home from work when I was getting out of the taxi, she didn't recognize me!
Same for my little brothers, they were amazed!
(
laughs
)
🙏 You always need to be careful.
✂️ If he won a tournament, William Iraguha promised his teammates that he would cut his dreadlocks.
Promise kept.
🧑🏿🦲😆#France7 #HSBCSVNSLAX |
@SVNSSeries pic.twitter.com/fxsMcxixWL
— France Rugby (@FranceRugby) March 5, 2024
Did the family follow the team's exploits?
Yes !
The crazy thing is that this is one of my mom's first times.
She doesn't have Canal +, she practically never sees me, but there it was on France TV... She really came at the right time, it's crazy!
She heard about it on the radio too.
“In Los Angeles everything closed at 2 a.m.
We didn't have a lot of time.
But we put it to good use!
»
William Iraguha
Did you measure the impact of this victory?
It's the first victory since 2019. I'm in my 5th season with the French team, it must be my 26th or 27th tournament... We don't quite realize it.
I'm still wearing my match outfit, I have my medal around my neck... I want to enjoy it a little longer.
These are rare moments.
You only win your first Tournament once.
We will never forget it.
Although I hope there will be more.
Also read “What I do in rugby sevens, I do for my quadriplegic brother”, the moving journey of William Iraguha
The third half must have been beautiful...
Oh yes.
We made the most of it.
Well, we had to move quickly after the final, because in Los Angeles everything closed at 2 a.m.
We didn't have a lot of time.
But we put it to good use!
Did you expect this success?
We felt it coming.
Even last season, we didn't get far.
In Vancouver it barely escapes us.
It’s so…, we were very frustrated.
We repeated it to ourselves: we want to win a tournament this year.
We knew this was going to happen, deep down.
But we waited a very, very long time.
We're lucky it happened to us.
“There is nothing to say: Dupont is a very good guy”
And this finally happens from the second tournament where Antoine Dupont is with you… Is it a coincidence or is he really the X factor?
Everyone saw in the two tournaments what he brings, what he does on the pitch.
He lifts us all up.
When you play with players like that, you want to do well even more, to give the best of you.
Did his integration go well?
Antoine makes things a lot easier, on and off the field.
It went really, really well with him.
I didn't know him before, I had just known him a little at Marcoussis when he was with the XV.
It was really a very nice meeting.
Even more so off the field (
smile
).
There is nothing to say: Dupont is a very good guy.
This first victory also comes at the right time, the year of the Olympics…
The Olympics are in your country, it will only happen once in your life... Of course the goal is the gold medal.
But there are things to do until then.
The season is not over.
There are matches to be won.
We would like to win the title in Madrid (May 31), to be champion for the year.
All this will prepare us well for the Olympics.
Everyone thinks about it: we want to get this gold medal.