After another disappointing season, what would you say to supporters of Stade Français Paris to reassure them?
I understand their doubts.
We are still in reconstruction, but we had a good pre-season.
We have a lot of new players who really want to win, to mark the history of the club.
We have good young people and the new ones have a club spirit.
Its very important.
They also want to prove that they are good.
They will bring to our team.
I trust.
To discover
Schedule and Top 14 results
Ranking Top 14
What about the contribution of Morgan Parra, flagship rookie of the off-season?
He did not come to take it easy, but as a leader.
It's natural for him.
There are a lot of young players at Stade Français.
Every time he speaks, everyone drinks his words given his great career at the highest level, his experience.
He brings his aura.
He knows rugby perfectly, it's his life.
Was it the leader who was lacking last season?
We needed a player with a lot of experience and a different vision.
He will bring us a lot because he is a huge competitor.
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What are the ambitions for this season?
Do better than last season.
I hope it won't be complicated because we finished 11th (
he smiles
)… Aiming for the top 6 wouldn't be bad.
You believe in the project since you have extended your contract until 2027…
Even if we are under reconstruction, it is still a great club with 120 years of history and twelve French championship titles.
I thought about changing clubs.
I had practically made my decision.
Then, all that is happening internally to rebuild, the arrival of all these new players, it really made me want to stay.
It's a club apart, really atypical.
“I'm a Parisian Titi, that's why the supporters identify with me a little.
It makes me very happy, it's gratifying.
»
2015-2027 will be quite a lease.
Paris is my home.
I grew up here, I have my whole family there.
This is where I feel the best.
And it's not about staying in my comfort zone.
Because what I want is to win titles with Paris, to mark the history of the Stade Français.
What role do you occupy with this former status?
I'm only 27 (
he smiles
).
But, it's true, I've been at the club for a long time.
I am one of the executives of the group, but that's all.
No more than that…
Even among young people?
Helping a teammate is just normal.
It doesn't bother me, it even clearly makes me happy.
When people ask me for advice, I give it.
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Do you have a special relationship with the staff?
I played with Julien Arias and Laurent Sempéré (
the two assistant coaches, editor's note
).
They trust me when I speak.
And reciprocally.
Our exchange is healthy.
And our identical goal: to make the team progress.
Stade Français supporters appreciate you a lot, we even talk about “Macaloumania”.
I can never thank them enough for that.
I always try to give my best for them and they return it to me well.
Afterwards, I'm a Parisian Titi, that's why they identify with me a little.
It makes me very happy, it's true.
It is rewarding.
“I have not yet managed to bring to the France team what I bring to the club.
I have to set myself more ambitions.
»
It's a World Cup season, so it's necessarily special?
We don't live it the same way as the others, of course.
But, the most important thing is to perform well at club level.
We are not called up to the France team because we are called X or Y, but because we perform well every weekend.
We have to focus on that.
A XV of France in which you have not yet won (10 selections, including 5 tenures)…
I have not yet managed to bring to the French team what I bring to the club, it's true.
I have to set myself more ambitions.
Because I really want to play this World Cup at home.
Because you don't put enough pressure on yourself?
It depends.
Sometimes it goes a little higher.
Before a match, I always have this ball in my stomach because you never know what will happen.
What I don't want is to put myself on the brakes by going back to something, a pass, a miss all the time.
You have to move on and that's it.
This summer during the tour in Japan, Sekou Macalou played as a winger with the XV of France.
Panoramic
The Blues staff are also counting on you as a winger. How do you live it?
Very well.
Changing jobs doesn't bother me at all.
When I was younger, I started on the wing, so I know.
The most important thing is above all to have the confidence of the coach.
If they need me in 9 or 10, it's okay (
smile
)!
This versatility is positive for the World Cup?
Of course, we are not many to combine avant-three-quarters.
It is clearly an asset for me, yes.
Playing winger at Stade Français, is it also possible?
It depends.
If they really need me in this position, I rush headlong, I will not refuse.
Rugby 7 at the Paris Olympics in 2024, are you also thinking about it?
It's in a corner in my head without being a major goal of my career.
It still requires a lot of work, a change of rugby, a period of physical and technical adaptation.
To see then.
“I am not someone who seeks the light.
That's why I don't speak much in the media.
Out of superstition too…”
If people tell you that you come across as reserved, even shy…
I understand.
I don't open up when I don't know.
(
He thinks
) It's a reality yes...
You are also discreet in the media, you refuse many interviews.
I am not someone who seeks the light.
That's why I don't speak much in the media.
Out of superstition too… (
Pause
) I don't really like to talk, that 's it
(the press officer explains that he was seriously injured after the publication of a major interview, hence the superstition and his reluctance , Editor's note
).
But playing the media game helps some players in their careers.
I understand this mentality.
But I'm not in that view...
However, you seem a little less reserved than a year ago.
Maybe a little less.
I feel a little better.
It's certainly age that does that (
laughs
).
A word on the opening match of the Top 14 this Saturday (5 p.m.), with the reception of Clermont.
It's a big team, so it's going to be complicated.
But it's very important not to miss the start at home, to start on a good dynamic.
Last season, losing from the start against Racing complicated the future as this championship is so tight.
And then we want to show Morgan (
Parra
), against his former team, that he made the right choice…