the Blues, his friendship with Ntamack… the confessions of Matthis Lebel
Double U20 world champion, Stade Toulousain winger Matthis Lebel returns to Marcoussis to hope this time to wear the jersey of the great team of France, after two summons last year in a larger group. Revelation of last season, with 15 scored tries, he wants to follow the path of his teammates among young people and experience emotions with his great friend Romain Ntamack. The child of Lombez Samatan is eager to do battle.
Matthis Lebel, you are double U20 world champion in 2018 and 2019. Have you missed Marcoussis since?
Marcoussis is missing? (He laughs) There was a time when we went there a lot with the young French teams and we said to ourselves that we wanted a change of scenery! But in the end, we always have the banana to go there, to meet the guys from other clubs and the Marcoussis staff, all the people who work there. It’s still good memories
Was this a period that marked you?
It’s a passage that has done a lot, a lot of good. Individually, it was obviously incredible. To succeed in winning a first World Cup in France and then a second in Argentina, obviously, are unforgettable moments. On a national level, it opened our eyes to the potential of players in France. It made things happen at the youth level, seeing the number of players participating in the Top 14, it’s incredible. It’s great for everyone so it’s been two really rewarding and wonderful years.
Many teammates of the time like Gros, Bamba, Geraci, Azagoh, Woki, Ntamack, Carbonel, Vincent, Barassi had one or more selections before you. Did that question you?
No, we don’t compare but I’m just saying it was amazing. Afterwards, they have the potential, they have worked hard for they have the potential and they have shown it. And for its part, we say to ourselves that we will also work hard to one day put the jersey back on with our friends. And since we have less chance of playing together since everyone has their club, the only possibility; if we still want to write pages of our history together, it’s to meet up with the grown-ups. So we want it, we dream about it and we work very, very hard for it. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t …
Did you sometimes envy them?
No, I didn’t envy them. I was even very happy for them. I am very close to most of them. Whether it is Romain (Ntamack), Louis Carbonel, Arthur Vincent, “JB” Gros. These are guys I get along with really well. I am their first supporter. Then there was a bit of a competitive instinct that told me to work and do everything to one day join them and play with “my friends”. So I wouldn’t say that I envied them but it made me try to give even more to one day be with them.
Does France have a generation in or?
I do not know what is done in other countries but in any case, but there is a generation where we all get along well. Then there are also the “a little older” with Gaël Fickou, Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, “Toto” Dupont … in the end, it remains quite young but there is a great osmosis between those a little more experienced and young people. who are fiery. The advantage is that we get along well. Everyone has bananas when they get together so you can really do nice things I think.
“When your name comes up often, casually, you start to believe it”
Your name has been circulating for a while to join the XV of France. Did this have any consequences on your game?
It played a bit. Afterwards, I’m not the type to take the lead or see myself more beautiful than I am. But it is sure that when your name comes up often, casually, you start to believe it and you want to agree with people who talk about you. So in the end you try to do the little extra thing on the pitch, except that if it doesn’t go well you can quickly find yourself playing games that don’t look like you. So you have to manage to juggle a little so as not to burn your wings before you even arrive. So it’s true that it was a bit special at the start of the season. But hey, little by little we will put things back in order and it will do it.
What is Matthis Lebel’s world of rugby?
My world of rugby is all the same remembering that I come from Lombez-Samatan. This is a part that I really care about. There are also all the meetings that I have been able to make and the friendships that I have been able to keep with guys like Romain (Ntamack), Guillaume Marchand or Lucas Tauzin. And afterwards, I often talk about it with my parents, I have the chance to experience something fantastic where everything is beautiful, everything is rosy. Even if we sometimes play bad matches, we have found the public, we have the chance to play in full stadiums, to play for a club that is close to my heart. But I will never forget it, and we must not forget where we come from, my first jersey was in Lombez-Samatan. And I am happy, I enjoy going to see Lombez matches on weekends. See friends again, discuss with them, see those close to them. So there you have it, a magical world, but you still have to know where you come from. Whenever I can, I try to say hello to rugby school, see the young people. I’m not saying I do it every week, but if I can go and do it once in a while, I do it with great pleasure.
Does the opinion of your father, Mickaël, former Auch player and coach at Lombez-Samatan, count?
Yes, a lot. Especially when I was much younger, during my first years at Stade Toulousain. Perhaps because he knew the requirements of the high level, even if it was only the Stade Toulousain rugby school. But for me it was already huge! There, he took me a lot in hand. Afterwards, I learned to discover myself, when I entered the circuit, whether at the hope pole, with the young French teams. There, he was more of an accompanist than pulling me, pulling, pulling me. But for example, during confinement, he took back the hat of the trainer because we had more time to spend together. Otherwise he accompanies me a lot on game debriefs, when things are going or when things are not. So we manage to judge each other, to juggle to create a beautiful chemistry between us. He tells me things, good or bad. In bad it always feels good to hear and he’s not afraid to say it. When I’m not happy with myself, one or two actions come out in the match where I was not bad so that I don’t put my head in the back of the bag either.
“With Romain, we know we dreamed of it”
You mentioned your friendship with Romain Ntamack, established since you evolved together in the youth categories. Did you ever learn that you learned the ensemble under the blue jersey?
(He laughs) Without betraying a secret we’re going to say … I won’t say that we said it to ourselves or that we had made a promise to it but in any case we have already talked about it, we know that we in a dream. But those were kids’ dreams when you’re 13. But you don’t tell yourself that eight or nine years later, even if it’s not yet done… but in any case, we will have gone as high as possible together anyway. You can’t imagine that when you’re 13. So if that happens, both of us will be very, very happy.
What did your dialogues on the subject look like at the time?
(His laughter redoubles) When we were young? Pfff… Those were things we said to ourselves when we were kids, with the lights off before going to sleep! We say to ourselves “Can you imagine, one day, if it happens? And then, listen, if it has to happen, it will happen and it will be funny to talk about it again. Afterwards, he is much more advanced than me. Me, he me. still have a little work to do I think.
Do you have a strong relationship?
Yes we get along very well. As soon as I arrived at the Stade Toulousain we got along rugby and afterwards by dint of discovering each other. After that, we were lucky that his father and my father knew each other more or less through rugby. Maybe that made things easier. Afterwards, things are done naturally and now, we are really united.