Daniel Herrero at the biography festival in Nîmes: “For France to one day be world champion, the Latin soul must take over”

Daniel Herrero revient au festival de la bio. On va causer rugby… Midi Libre – MiKAEL ANISSET

Écrivain, philosophe et surtout rugbyman, Daniel Herrero revient au Festival de la biographie de Nîmes avec le Dictionnaire amoureux du rugby des temps modernes.

A year ago, you came to Nîmes to present the Dream Catcher (edition of the equators). Here you are again with the Modern Day Rugby Lovers' Dictionary, released just before the World Cup. Was it difficult to write ?

I always have the feeling that writing, in the world of ovalism, is a test for me, while provoking a joyful effervescence. 

With each letter, the book refers to a very personal theme. And for the letter K, you chose "Oval crash" by evoking a fateful date, that of the transition from amateurism to the professional world.

Yes, it dates back to 1995. It's not a tragedy, but the realization of an upheaval. From a game, from a fun, recreational practice, already publicized, we moved to rigorous professional work, even more publicized. We touched the soul of rugby culture. From a relational, cultural and moral adventure, we moved to a relationship with spectacle, with money, with work.

With, as you describe, various developments: "scientific" training, increase in playing time, reduction in "identity niggles"…

For science, it's clear, she was interested in everything: equipment, balls, jerseys, food hygiene… The players were physically transformed, with a big modification of the morphology, the increase in the level of performance. The second upheaval is that of the rules, with the legislator's quest for the life of the ball. But he also wanted to put an end to the sensitive poetry of the game. There was in rugby a poetics similar to an old Talion law which said if you behave badly, you will take your plaster ration. The snort did not lead to drama. To bring the ball to life, we chose to polish, smooth, remove emotion. If man is moving towards robotization, he must not be a beast. On the other hand, the game has lost the politics of its violence to gain harshness in the shocks…

And we experienced a period of impoverishment of the game…

Yes, this robustness has become a cult, the game has become infinitely poor. We were at the time of the emergence of profitable strategies. We saw the arrival of extraordinarily strong defenses, extremely airtight, with permanent fortresses, where everyone defended in line.

And then, there was the return of the game…

2015 made the All Black sacred and the game was reliberated. But be careful, it's not a sure thing. Today, many teams still play in a stereotypical way. These are very occasional jolts. The new world champion is poor…

Exactly, let's talk about the World Cup. A year ago, in Nîmes, you told us all the good things you thought of the France team. His failure in the World Cup was a disappointment…

There is a feeling of failure. We knew all the parameters combined. The talent of the men was undeniable, that of the coaches was very active. Although we had a little doubt about the fact that for a year and a half we had stopped making progress… In truth, the French team was not bad, but she wasn't above it. This is the only team that did not have any athletic development during the World Cup. The disappointment, in fact, is that it's been 36 years since France lost all the World Cups in roughly the same way… 

The referees didn't help, no ?

It's a game of Anglo-Saxons, arbitrated by Anglo-Saxons, where this mode of management always comes to annoy us. We are condemned to play differently from what we have been doing for 35 years… To be world champions, it is imperative that the Latin soul takes over this game invented by the Anglo-Saxons.< /p> Editions Plon, 24.90 €. Signings Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning and afternoon. Authors' forum Sunday, at 3:40 p.m., atrium, Carré d'art.