“It’s up to me to show that I still have my place”, insists Jaminet
Back after more than two months of absence after a broken ankle, the international back intends to find his best level at Stade Toulousain to return to the France team.
How do you feel after returning to competition last week against Castres en Top 14?
Melvin Jaminet: Mentally, it does a lot of good. I wanted to come back. I had been preparing myself in my corner for a long time to be ready. The return went very well, I had very good feelings, and having victory at the end (22-18), it’s always a pleasure (…) It’s the first time in my career that I had to manage such a long injury. It was also in a period when there were big club deadlines and the France team which was arriving. It was hard to see all these matches pass without being able to take part in them. Now, I still have the same goals and I hope it will go well.
Do you feel like your momentum has been cut off when you are still making your mark in Toulouse?
We know the expectations around the club, in addition to my personal expectations. I wanted to show the best of myself. I was arrested, it’s only gone and I can’t wait to prove again on the second part of the season. It’s like a second start. I was able to recover, remove all the discomfort I had been dragging around for a few years, which remained on my body, not just on my ankle. I now feel that my body is fine and I can’t wait to continue. Everybody tells me it’s a long season (with the 2023 World Cup) and that mentally too you have to be able to cut. I did it for two months. I feel ready.
“When we are not there, the player who plays in your place gives the maximum. Thomas Ramos did it very well”
How did you experience the three tests for the France team in November?
So it was a little frustrating to see the matches on TV. Big matches, again at the Stade de France (against Australia) and at the Vélodrome (against South Africa), where I would have liked to be because it is a mythical stadium. Once this frustration was evacuated, I managed to ignore it and stay focused on my recovery (…) I had contact with the staff (of the Blues) at the time of my injury. To find out how it was going to happen, how long it was going to take…
Your teammate in Toulouse and competitor at the back of the Blues Thomas Ramos scored points in your absence…
Inevitably, when we are not there, the player who plays in your place gives the maximum. Thomas did it very well. Now it’s going to be up to me to show that I can get back to where I was and that I can still have my place. I will always give the maximum of my abilities and we will see when the time comes the choices that will be made.
Read alsoToulouse, Quesada but also Woki and Castres: the results of a great first leg of the Top 14
After having played a lot at the opening in the absence of Romain Ntamack, Ramos is now suspended for five weeks. There hasn’t really been any competition so far in the club between you…
It is the course of a season. It caused a lot of talk (their competition), but today we see that the club was absolutely right to bet on players like us. When there are problems, whoever takes the place is just as good. We’ll see how the rest of the season goes and how it goes in the France team, but for now, it’s going very well. We are two big competitors.