Toulouse. The Seven Sud Garonne a grandiose property
The club has an important place in the rugby 7s landscape. After having come a long way, it still has great ambitions.
“At the beginning, it was I who called the players to bring them in. Now it’s the opposite, they are the ones who call me”, reveals Gérard Rivière, manager of the Seven Sud Garonne, rugby club at 7. In Toulouse. The latter remembers a Saturday evening in 2017 when it all started: “We used to meet with a group of friends every Saturday, and one evening we decided to embark on a project. opted for rugby 7s because we were all up for it. We played our first championship in 2018.” Four seasons later, the Seven Sud Garonne has an elite women’s and men’s team. With only a few licensees, the club relies heavily on clubs in the region to form its team.
“We are recognized on the circuit”
“We must have four or five licensees for the men, the rest are clubs that lend us the players. It’s the same for the girls. All you need is the agreement of the president and then the player can “Come and train and play with us. We need a fairly large reservoir because the 7-a-side tournaments often come back at the end of the 15-a-side season,” explains Gérard Rivière.
And if at the beginning the players were difficult to bring in, today it is the opposite. “We are recognized on the circuit so some coaches call us from time to time to send us their elements. Rugby 7s develops certain qualities that coaches need,” says the manager. And it’s a system that works for the team in the Pink City since the women’s team has just won the “Winter Sevens” this weekend and the men have already finished 4th in the last French championship.
With an elite group and a reserve for men and women, the Seven Sud Garonne aims to create another team. “We want to start a U19 men’s team. But the idea is to stabilize the reserved teams and stabilize our elite women’s team. Even if they won a tournament, they are younger than our men’s team, so it requires confirmation. But in any case, in five years of existence, we have nevertheless developed well”, rejoices Gérard Rivière.