6 months ago, you retired from sport. You are now an investor. In what kind of companies?

At the time, there was investment in the stock market. Today, the trend is to invest in start-ups and companies. I those who speak to me, who are close to my heart and who share the same values ​​as me such as respect, commitment, surpassing oneself, humility and questioning.

It seems that you are looking for premises, what will they be used for?

Yes. I set up a project while remaining in the continuity of what I was doing and where I was doing it. That is to say, to provide a place to live with sport, health, catering and coworking, somewhat imagined as a training center for high-level athletes, with a whole innovative aspect .

Are there any difficulties in retraining after having spent his entire career in rugby?

Today, my first difficulty is organizing my schedule. In rugby, I had one. It wasn’t linear, but every week was the same. I was accompanied. And now, I don’t have a great schedule, but I’m learning. Gradually I focus on a task for an hour or two. At first I was a little confused. I wanted to take everything there was to take. I saw that I was quickly in the red. Today, I’m more in a sorting phase to be able to be better and more efficient.

Did you encounter any legitimacy issues?

Necessarily. Afterwards, I am quite transparent. I am far from being competent unlike some of my associates or partners. Nor am I saying that I don’t have the right word. In any case, the sport allowed me certain things. It allowed me to observe, to know with whom I wanted to work and what I wanted to transmit. So legit, I don’t know if I would ever be. They say it takes 10 years. Personally, as long as I’m learning, that’s fine with me.

You have completed training at Toulouse Business School. What did it bring you?

This school allowed me to have a little more self-confidence and to understand the inner workings of a business. Basically, I have a BEP, an electrical engineering baccalaureate. I was curious, I wanted to do some training. Laure Vitou gave me back my old taste, to take an interest in all this and to increase my skills. So I took an all-terrain company training on a project I had before Covid-19. Then I did TBS. Again, it’s still very academic. Everything I learn today is on the pitch.

What do you do with your free time?

I continue to exercise because it is important for my well-being. I take advantage of my family and we’re not going to say discover life because even when you’re a top athlete you live your life, it’s great. But there are still a lot of constraints, even if I didn’t see it that way. But now, I have weekends, there are evenings. You discover that there is another choice in life than rugby. At first it was a bit hard to adapt, but now I’m starting to enjoy it a bit.

What is the next sport you would like to practice?

I would like to do an Ironman. It’s a bit crazy. It’s 3.8km of swimming, 180km of cycling and a marathon. This is my little challenge that I set myself. I didn’t set myself a time limit. I don’t know if I’m going to do it this year or in two years, but in any case I’m working on it. I have someone with whom I work, who notably prepares my programming. I’m quite happy with that. I don’t know how to swim yet. For the moment, I’m sinking more than I’m swimming but in any case, it’s nice! I need to always want to surpass myself.

Do you see yourself becoming a rugby coach or manager in the future?

Honestly, I have no goal in rugby today. What I know is that I have to stay in the rugby car, it is in this area that I have my network and that I am passionate about this sporting discipline. But I don’t want to be a coach or a manager. This is still the level above player. You are always at the stadium, at the club, every weekend you are not there. It is still a life that must be organized as a family and it is never easy.

The first sponsor of the Eductive campus of Toulouse

“As a sponsor, my aim is to support young people. Be there when they need it. It also means bringing my network to the campus to be able to make sponsorships or synergies with, perhaps, local politicians or entrepreneurs.
The first time I came here, on campus, I spoke with two young people who told me that they were having trouble, at the very beginning of the year, finding a company for their work-study program. So I thought it would be good to find links with local businesses. »