Fabien Galthié solemnly stated it.
By the 2023 World Cup, the coach hopes to discover one or two UFOs to strengthen his France team.
Namely non-standard players, passed under the radar before suddenly revealing themselves.
Like Momo Haouas, Gabien Villière or Melvyn Jaminet in recent months.
Thibaut Flament, who will honor his first selection against Argentina on Saturday night at 24, has the appropriate profile.
And the definitively unidentified trajectory.
Born in Paris in 1997, he left France in 2000 in the wake of his father. Direction Singapore. Then Belgium in 2005. Where he discovered this funny oval balloon. At the… Waterloo club. It cannot be invented, admit it. And despite his large size (he measures 2.03 meters today), persists in training for the opening half position. That of his father Eric, who was a 10 good level amateur at the Stade Français.
Ten years later, barely an adult, the great stakes, who was also an excellent student, left to study in Loughborough, England.
Its rugby level leaves the prestigious university wary, where one does not joke with this elite sport, with no less than five teams, the best playing in English Division 3.
Thibaud Flament logically starts in the weakest.
But his coaches manage to convince him to play for a position which corresponds to his size.
He discovers in the process the bodybuilding, and here he is slowly climbing in the hierarchy of ... second-lines.
Read also Galthié before facing Argentina: "Associating Jalibert and Ntamack, we had been thinking about it for a while"
Two years later, he flew to Argentina where he will do his third year internship at the French Embassy. He comes into contact with the Newman club (first division). Who welcomes him with pleasure. “
I clicked there! I wanted to be a pro, but I was putting too much pressure on myself. I no longer took pleasure in the field. Seeing my Argentinian friends playing rugby for fun, I started to change my philosophy of life. I finally started to enjoy…
”With Newman, he lost in the championship final before returning to England. Where, transformed, he finally joined team 1. Where he was quickly spotted, and recruited, by the Premiership team (the equivalent of the Top 14) of the Wasps.
Spotted by Pierre-Henry Broncan, the former recruiter of Stade Toulousain
The holder of a license in international trade is making further progress, soon playing his first professional matches. And catch the eye of Pierre-Henry Broncan, trainer of Bath and former recruiter of… Stade Toulousain.
Who immediately reports the nugget to Ugo Mola.
And so the now solid fellow, without ever having played in France, receives a text from the manager of the Haut-Garonnais club inviting him to join the Stade Toulousain.
Thing done in October 2020.
“
He fell asleep with the poster of the France team on the ceiling.
Every night his last jersey look was for the tricolor jersey.
"
Fabien Galthie
A year later, he is the holder in blue from his first selection. And the object of all the compliments of the staff of the XV of France. “
This player has always been inhabited by this flame. His father told us that he fell asleep with the poster of the France team on the ceiling. Every night, his last jersey look was for the tricolor jersey, it's a special fate. Very particular even when looking at his career. That of an Anglo-Saxon rugby player, of a globetrotter,
”said Fabien Galthié when announcing the first selection of the player trained in Belgium. "
We also focus on the profile of the man
," added manager Raphaël Ibanez.
His various experiences abroad demonstrate his open-mindedness.
Despite his young age, he already has a lot of international experience with his atypical career.
That of a UFO.
