2023-10-18 20:20:00
The year is 1990. Three years after winning the first Rugby World Cup on its islands topped with a long white cloud, New Zealand arrives in France for an eight-match tour. If she beat the XV of France twice, on October 17, 1990, she advanced to the Mayol stadium in Toulon for her first outing on French soil. As was customary at the time (1), a selection of the best players from Provence and the Côte d’Azur was called upon to unite under the same colors. To wear the same jersey: Mediterranean blue striped with the red and yellow of the Provençals. “An incredible jersey but extremely ugly. The Blacks were scared when they saw it!”laughs Toulonnais Éric Champ, 61 years old.
Under the leadership of Jean-Claude Ballatore, Christian Seguin and Jean Archippe, the group meets three days before the meeting.
They put away the axes
The New Zealander Joe Stanley left Andrieu and Berty behind, under the helpless eye of Bianchi.
The main contingent is unsurprisingly from Toulon with Champ, Melville, Roux, Braendlin, Jaubert and a few veterans of the red and black house (Bianchi, Tordo, Pujolle). Niçois, Grenoblois and Nîmes complete the starting fifteen, which even receives the contribution of Toulouse David Berty on the wing. An abnormality.
Three days to get along, to come together. To bury the axes that the players threw at each other’s backs in the championship. If the antagonism between Nice and Toulon had faded, the Toulon-Grenoble, between the two biggest forward packs of the time, were matches to leave the children at home. If they had played today, the thirty players would have been summoned to the disciplinary committee the next day.
Patrick Barthélémy from Nice, who has just celebrated his 60th birthday by completing his first triathlon, remembers: “We immediately understood that it was serious. At the table, not a joke and in training, not a dropped ball.” “ We played the Blacks at Mayol and each of us could apply for a place in the French team. Individually, each player prepared to play a test match. The day before, the osmosis was perfect”supports Éric Champ.
The drops of “Barthé”
Mayol is almost full at kick-off (14,000 people) despite the storms which have hit over the last 24 hours. “I loved playing at Mayol, it’s a challenging stadium”, breathes “Barthé” who played his very first match in minimals against a certain… Éric Champ. The All Blacks sing their impressive haka, amplified by the stadium sound system. Sean Fitzpatrick is the captain of a heavily overhauled team. Enough, thought the world champions, to beat fifteen guys from the South-East of France.
The start of the match proves them right. Despite the fierce resistance of the Selection, they dominate in the scrum, the center Stanley breaks through and scores. It will take an anthology drop from Patrick Barthélémy from 40 meters on the right to restore momentum to the Provençal Harlequins before the break.
In the second half, the French below rebel. The forwards are unleashed. Champ and Tordo are on all the hot spots. On a clearance, Barthélémy recovers and hits a second drop from 22 meters. “ I often did drop contests in training and played it on instinct. We didn’t have today’s terrifying instructions.”, tackles the opening half. It is again he who intercepts a pass from the opener Mannix, Champ is in relay then, Braendlin, Tordo, Roux and Jaubert to conclude. Mayol cracks. Yes, the All Blacks fell (19-15).
Collective masterpiece
“ The context was ideal in this stadium which prefers candles and fighting to the beautiful gamesmiles Eric Champ. We had built a team to go to war. The Blacks were ready but we brought down guys with all our might, with moments of heroic defense. Simon Mannix [le demi d’ouverture]we must have tackled him 250 times late!”
“ The noise, the passion, the hatred in the whites of their eyes when we were lined up in the tunnel…confided Simon Mannix ten years after the match, he who would only have one other selection in 1994. Even Sean Fitzpatrick still talks about the alignment in that tunnel! We knew we were entering into an absolute war. Which it was.”
The Selection has achieved an authentic feat, entering directly into the Pantheon of legendary matches. A collective masterpiece where humans have taken their central place. “ When you play against each other, you “get angry”, but when you wear the same jersey, you love each other.”summarizes Champ. “ We gave each other plasters but we had the same valuesadds Barthélémy. There was respect between us and a unity was created for the event. We defended the identity of the Paca region together. This is the power of rugby, a true brotherhood with an international humanist passport.” “ was a great rugby momentassures the Toulonnais. Talking about it 33 years later still gives me chills. “
1. Out of 28 matches played in France between 1977 and 1995, the All Blacks suffered only two defeats in Bayonne and Toulon in 1990 and a draw in Perpignan in 1981.
The Biterrois Gilles Camberabero opens in an armchair, protected by the wall of the eight forwards of the Selection.
The Provence – Côte d’Azur selection team:
15. Jérôme Bianchi (Nîmes, ex-Toulon), 14. David Jaubert (Toulon), 13. Marc Andrieu (Nîmes), 12. Jean-Claude Langlade (Nîmes), 11. David Berty (Toulouse), 10. Patrick Barthélémy (Grenoble, ex-Nice), 9. Gilles Camberabero (Béziers), 8. Marc Cécillon (Bourgoin), 7. Éric Melville (Toulon), 6, Éric Champ (Toulon), 5. Hervé Chaffardon (Grenoble), 4. Yvan Roux (Toulon), 3, Yann Braendlin (Toulon), 2, Jean-François Tordo (Nice), 1. Marc Pujolle (Nice).
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