The acting president of the French Rugby Federation stopped by the Entente Astarac-Bigorre club in Miélan on Thursday evening. A journey within his campaign for his own re-election as head of the FFR. The capture of income by “pro” clubs, training costs, the decrease of licensees… Florian Grill did not avoid any of the questions “from start-up producers”.
Six months after his arrival in Auchthe outgoing president of the French Rugby Federation, Florian Grill, stopped in the Gers again. On Thursday, September 12, at the clubhouse of Entente Astarac-Bigorre XV, in Miélan, Gers invited the world of rugby. A visit as part of his campaign for his own re-election as head of the Federation.
In front of him, dozens of presidents and representatives of the Gers and Bigourdan clubs. The gathering's opportunity to learn about the incumbent president's “battle plan” (carrying the Oval Ensemble list), but also to get concerns answered. A desire repeatedly conveyed by Florian Grill to his audience. “I don't give a big speech. It's easy to hide behind a speech, we take the floor, talk for an hour and close the whole room. We say: question/answer.”
Mileage allowances, training, summer dramas, “mushroom” clubs… One instruction from the head of French rugby: “Don't spare us! There is no such thing as a taboo question!”. “I'm a former second row, I like to talk to people straight in the eyes,” insists Florian Grill, accompanied this evening by Olivier Pouligny, president of the Suresnes (National) club and president of the Ovale Ensemble.
“Training will pay much better”
The butt-to-butt exchange could then begin. There was no need to tell Bernard Salam twice. As a very good student, placed in the first row of the “class”, the former president of RC Auch, who nevertheless remains involved in the club, opened the ball of questions with a frankness that characterizes him. “THE ONE Top 14 and the Pro D2 suck up all the juice. There is a weak cast which will be very dangerous for French rugby. I don't know if everyone realizes that,” regrets the former pillar.
“tit-for-tat” response from the FFR president. “Today, what is dying is grassroots rugby. When I talk to the League, I tell them: stop raising the salary cap, which, by capillarity, generates remuneration Pro D2, National, etc. Kill rugby in villages and middles. cities of a size that don't have the means to keep up,” explains Florian Grill. “Rugby is spending money it doesn't have!”
“How do we relaunch grassroots rugby We need to imagine redistribution systems, which need to go to virtuous clubs, which are based on a rugby school, cadets and junior boys, we will publish a new training allowance scale . The training will be much better paid”, explains the candidate for his own re-election. Two levers, among others, that the Federation has used or is preparing to make to breathe new life into the oval ball.
“Rugby Relaunch in Villages and Medium Towns”
An alarmist speech that echoes the words of EAB XV president Alain Laterrade, spoken as a preamble to the “meeting” of the Oval Ensemble list. “We are happy to welcome you because we always have the same turbulence, personally, I am worried about the future of our sport.
The performances of the French teams, we immediately think of the Olympic title of the team of Antoine Dupont and Paulin Riva in rugby 7, are the tree that hides the forest. But the numbers don't lie. “Rugby is dying, we're the second sport in the media, but in terms of licensees we're tenth,” Florian Grill points out. “Rugby is concentrated in the big cities,” he continues. A paradox when we know that “50% of the players of the French team come from cities with less than 15,000 inhabitants”.
“My fight is to revive rugby in villages and medium-sized towns.” How does the current president of the FFR intend to achieve this? Emphasizing education, by improving facilities “that date back to the 1970s on average”, by creating French champion titles…
Will Florian Grill convince his audience? The clubs will instead opt for the candidacy of Didier Codorniou ? The winner of this match will be known on October 19, the day of the election of the new president of the FFR.