(Hesitating) I showed a little what I was worth. I want to show even more for the one who comes. I have a particular game: I’m not a purebred hooker, let’s say (smile). I have qualities that I need to perfect, but also weak points to work on.
That’s to say ?
My biggest weak point is my strong point too. It is to dare to attempt the impossible. Sometimes it happens, sometimes not. For example, when it happens on one action, I want to do something even harder on the next one.
Peato Mauvaka is a hooker with formidable technical ease.
AFP
“I’d rather win a game than scratch a ball”
Your manager Ugo Mola said at the end of the play-off against La Rochelle that you knew how to do everything “despite a certain nonchalance”. Is something chosen that you work?
I understand that he says that because… (he tries to find his words) I’m a bit apart from the other hookers. I try things that you don’t necessarily see in other players, I show a certain ease. it may pass for a form of nonchalance, but it’s just that I like to try things.
Where does this come from?
I do not know at all. I was playing three quarters before, I went to third line then. I like to shoot in this position and not always remain a hooker, a position to which many people tell me that you have to do the basic stuff first: the scrum, the touchline, the rucks, the fight. But hey… I prefer to win a match rather than scratch a ball (smile).
When you were young, who were your role models?
I used to play volleyball before. I started rugby watching the 2011 World Cup. My father was a fan of the All Blacks and this is the edition when Sonny Bill Williams had just arrived. Playing volleyball, we felt the ball a little with our hands with my brother. It was by seeing him do that we began to try things too. I think it went from there. We made chisteras, things like that. But my favorite thing to do is blind passes.
Like the one you did against La Rochelle in a barrage?
So. These passes without looking, it is the most beautiful gesture of rugby.
Do you work it?
Not especially, but in training, we often do it with Rodrigue (Neti). By dint of doing them, we get to know each other. For example, when I’m next to “Rod”, I expect him to pass me when someone else wouldn’t. It’s a mechanic. When you break through with the ball, you know in the same way that there is always Antoine (Dupont) behind you. You don’t look, you just hear left or right.
Are you inhabited by the idea of refreshing yourself in your initiatives?
Yes ! I tell myself that I have to do the basic stuff first. And once I’m confident, I can then try. Ugo (Mola) also tells me not to try the impossible. But when it happens, it’s beautiful to see! I try to be careful, but when I see spaces, I want to go there…
What you dare in Toulouse, do you now also dare in the France team?
No. I am not as free as in Toulouse. Ugo took a while to understand me. To understand who I am, to understand my game… In the France team, I have just arrived. In Japan, I tried things. But we didn’t know each other enough, it didn’t work. That’s why I have to be careful.
Do you feel like you haven’t shown your true colors yet?
It could have happened anyway. Against the All Blacks or Argentina, I gained confidence. But it is sure that I am more reserved. You represent your country, you can be afraid of doing something wrong. I always have a little brake to try things. But when you have the chance with you, you can do anything.
Last year, you made the choice to extend to Toulouse when Julien Marchand came to do so as well. How strong is it to work with him?
I don’t know… With Julien, we get on well. This situation does not block us for the France team, with Toulouse, we chain a lot: we always play one match out of two, we play the same time. It’s good for the team, especially since we’re not just the two of us. There is also Guillaume Cramont and Ian Boubila.
Have you set up a form of work routine with Julien?
We put coins on each other (smile). Especially in touch. We sleep a lot. Because Julien also tries chisteras (laughs).
Peato Mauvaka after the victory against New Zealand in November 2021.
AFP
Your explosive profile catalogs you as a perfect impact player. Do you find this restrictive?
It depends. You have to be tough, in the fight in certain matches. You can start Julien in these cases, and I’ll send the gas afterwards. But on other meetings, it’s more rugby, you can start with me.
This explosiveness, are you working on it?
I work on my body and my weight. I have taken to traveling habits. I have many things in my head. When I’m in the 5-meter lane, I don’t play the same as when I’m on the 15-meter line. I don’t do the same supports. And with fatigue, I can do anything (smile). This is where the coaches tell me to calm down. My brain is spinning, I want to try everything at the same time. It’s nonsense (laughs).
Do you identify a trigger in your journey?
Last season against Argentina. Previously, in the France team, I told myself that I had to play like a hooker. But if you only see me doing touches, scrums and rucks, then you don’t recognize me anymore. During this match, when Matthieu (Jalibert) gave me the pass to get me scored, I let everything go. This is where I started sending.
The notion of pleasure taking precedence over pressure?
Yes. Internally, it relieved me. In the process, I scored against Georgia and the All Blacks. After this match, I changed dimension, it must be said: here in Toulouse, in the France team, and even in the eyes of people. Before New Zealand, I was only known in Toulouse. Afterwards, it was in all of rugby. Even at home, in Nouméa. It’s crazy. There, 90% of the people are New Zealand fans. So seeing a local kid win against the Blacks was huge. I did not realize, it was my mother who does not follow rugby at all who told me. She works in a shipping agency: all her bosses in South Africa congratulated her. That’s when I said to myself that it was huge what we had done.
The four tries you will remember from the last autumn tour will result from the same action, when you spring from behind a carried ball. Do you like this type of launch pad?
It’s the hooker position that wants that. It’s just the conclusion of a collective work. Against Georgia, it was already crazy. And against the Blacks, when we reach 5 meters in the second minute, I said to myself: “damn, if I score, it’s huge”. I was phew to have scored so on the second maul, I tried… And it happened. So, I announced, “it’s good, tonight, I’m killing myself” (laughs).