Melvyn Jaminet (Toulouse): “I wanted to find freedom”
His integration into Toulouse, his new challenges, his last season, the World Cup, his success at the foot: international rear Melvyn Jaminet (23 years old, 12 selections) has named himself to us on all the subjects which concern him. Without restraint and with lucidity.
How has this integration off-season been going, since the day you landed at Ernest-Wallon?
I am very happy. Stade Toulousain is not a club like the others. I’ve been observing a lot to see how it’s going, how it works… When you’ve just arrived, it’s important to be involved in order to get your bearings. I’m starting to assimilate the game plan well, it’s quite similar to what I knew. It is mainly the announcements that change. All in all, it’s going very well. I had the summer to take my marks. Afterwards, it will be necessary to be at work.
The fact of being in the France team for a year has prepared you for this integration, in a sense?
When you know ten or twelve guys, it makes integration easier, yes. Especially since we have lived some very strong moments together, it is getting closer. I discover the other players and I see all the quality there is in this group. We will be able to do great things.
What to create the Toulouse Stadium when you thought minot, you, child of the harbor?
When I was little, Stade Toulouse was a bit of a pet peeve. It is obligatory when we play in Toulon (laughs). I remember when I played against Romain (Ntamack). I always get on very well with him. There was a little rivalry between him and Louis (Carbonel), by the way. At the time, I was the smallest of the team, I was in the scrum. They were separate matches. There was commitment, we sent 200% and it was the same on the other side.
And when you watch TV, what does this team inspire in you?
It played everywhere, there were very great players. This team was a dream, basically, and it continues to do so, moreover. We didn’t like them because they were strong, quite simply. (smile). The Stadium has proven its value for so many years and it is up to us to bring it even stronger.
Several clubs interest you. Was there any reflection on your destination?
As soon as I knew that Stade Toulouse was interested in me, it was obvious. I saw myself playing in this team: its game, its vision, its players. The speech is interesting, too: it’s up to us to play the game, we are not restrained, taking initiatives is encouraged. It was all I wanted. The choice was not difficult.
The fact that it is a title machine must have strengthened your conviction…
Inevitably, when you are a competitor, you want to bring back trophies. I’m not saying that we are going to win the years but I know that we will always have the ambition to win titles and that we will give ourselves all the means to do so. That’s how a great club works.
By signing in Toulouse, you knew you would have Thomas Ramos as a direct competitor. How much did you take this subject into consideration?
I asked myself the question. When you join such a big club, you inevitably put yourself in danger, but I think that’s what I needed. I want to progress further and it is with the competition, just in training, that I get there. It will make us evaluate in the right direction, whether for the club and the France team. If everyone plays the game, everything will be fine.
Looking back on the holidays, what do you remember from last season, which was, to say the least, rich in twists and turns?
It’s been another year of learning, very different from my first season as a pro. I have been asked from all parties and I now know that you can lose energy with what is around. It can take you out of the player frame. I understood it. It was also the first season where I shuttled between the selection and the club and it was not easy either. While I left for the France team for two months, the team continued to move forward and evaluate. I sometimes had trouble finding the benchmarks, finding the automatisms.
Your club season has not been a long calm river…
There were a lot of expectations from the fans. It’s understandable, I was the only international Frenchman in the group. When I was less well, when I missed a defeat, it spoke about me: it was said that I had already left for Toulouse, that I only thought of the France team… In the long run, it was heavy . When I managed to clear my mind and get out of it, it went better. What did me good was the little injury I had. For three weeks I was away from the grounds and away from attention. I was very happy to be able to come back for the play-off and to play my last match with Usap. I think it showed on the pitch, I was good.
We can imagine your reduction from eliminating the club in the Top 14… The mission was accomplished.
It’s easy to say now but I couldn’t imagine this club going down to Pro D2. With what the team had proven and produced over the past months, they deserved to stay in the top flight. Moreover, it is not the work of a year that has paid off but that carried out for three or four years.
Have you checked the date of the match at Aimé-Giral?
It’s day 25. I have time to prepare it.
Your last season was marked by your transfer. And by all the hype around who suffered you…
At first, it was fine, I read, I heard. But when I saw that we were talking about it every month in the media, it became tiring. I was taking on me but I dropped the juice mentally.
Don’t you want to cut with the networks to protect yourself?
But I wasn’t going. It’s just that when I turned on the phone, I saw that people were identifying me and I fell on it. I didn’t want to see it but it came back to me all the same.
The media coverage, the exposure, the changing status: was it too much for your shoulders as young players?
I had prepared for this but it was beyond what I thought. The difficulty is that everything happened very quickly and at the same time: there was my transfer to Toulouse, the tour, the victory against the Blacks, the Grand Slam following. I got it all in my head. I’m only 23, I only had two pro seasons…
On the pitch, you seemed more restrained. Was it that general atmosphere around you that held you back?
The teams began to know me and knew that I like to raise. I was targeted by the defenses. And then, until then, I had mostly been seen in Pro D2. The team was dominant there, I was freer. I could take the shots knowing that the guys would be there to catch them if needed. In the Top 14, it was a different style of play. At this level, any mistake could be fatal for us. As a result, unconsciously, we raise less, we are afraid of making a mistake. There were times when you didn’t have to take points and the best choice was to lose possession of the ball. In Pro D2, we will say that there were five or six good shots. In Top 14, there was only one left. By signing at Stade Toulouse, I wanted to regain my freedom. If there are errors, we will have enough to make up for them.
Since Fabien Galthié had spoken of you as a “UFO”, this name has followed you. We also talk about the new Jaminet when a youngster breaks through. Isn’t that something you have to take on?
When I heard his words, I was very happy. It was flattering. Fabien is not at the head of the France team for nothing, he knows what he is saying. I don’t think it put any extra pressure on me. In the other direction, there is nothing acquired for as much. Just because he said I was the UFO in the 2020-2021 season doesn’t change anything. You have to earn the shirt for every game. That, I assimilated well.
Given the tank at the back, no drop in speed is possible anyway…
Yes, there is a lot of potential. This is what it takes for each position to become world champions.
At Stade Toulousain, a club that cultivates versatility, it is a question of you playing on the wing. How do you apprehend it?
Winger, I’ve never played there. Finally, among the adults. In the youth categories, I had some bad memories being on the wing, but it’s far away. My versatility, it is more 10-15. I had also arrived as an opener in Perpignan and I went back afterwards. If it is necessary to help out on the wing, I will do it but it is not a natural position for me. I’m still a bit lost on a few placements. I want to play but I don’t want it to deserve the team. I want to perform for myself and for the team. Afterwards, the coaches are lucid enough to decide and have the right people play.
You played very little in 10 last season: you slipped there on a few match fights…
At Usap, I mainly worked on it in training. Opener, it is a position with responsibilities. I will have to take some benchmarks because I have been playing it for a long time but I know that I can assess it: take initiatives, manage announcements, I am ready for it. From there to say that I could be a holder in 10 over time, I do not think.
In thirteen months, there will be the World Cup. What place does this deadline occupy in your mind?
How could I not think about it, especially since it will take place in France and it will be magical? I’m thinking about it. But I don’t want to be obsessed with it either. I have just arrived in Toulouse. My main objective is to perform well with Stade Toulousain and to win titles with this club. The World Cup will be later. At the end of this season, I hope that I will be 200% in the adventure with the XV of France. There will be the November tests, before. Each list is a passing exam.
How was your tour in Japan?
I had arrived physically and mentally tired. The coaches felt it: they saw it in practice and in the first test. Before the game, I’m even afraid of not playing. I had bad muscle feeling. After the meeting, the coaches came to see me and told me that they tired me, especially mentally. With everything that had happened in recent months, my club situation, my knee injury… They were smart and told me: “Melvyn, you’re not playing.” They preferred to put a player in top form. It would have served me first. Afterwards, even if it was the right choice, I had to take it upon myself. As a competitor, it’s not easy to stay on edge. On mental and physical fatigue, this little questioning helped me.
Finally, a quick word about your kicking game. Over the year 2021, you turn 91.9% in Blue. This year, the percentage has gone down. How do you experience it and explain it?
I live it as when my success was high: with hindsight. Before, it went very well, there, the rate dropped during the 6 Nations. It’s a whole, there were the conditions… These are just statistics at a given time. It would be a big mistake to want to change everything. I just train more.