Nice Première: Julien, how do you analyze this revival of Rugby in Nice?
Julien Schramm: It has a strong past here. We must not forget that with the RRC Nice, it spent nearly thirty years in the first division… if my memory serves me right from 1972 to 1998. Before declining in 2001, the club played a final in 1983 against the great Béziers, it played semi-finals, it won the Du Manoir challenge in 1985, it beat all the biggest clubs in France, it trained great players (Tordo, Orso, Buchet, Moni…).
The people of Nice have expectations, they want to be present as long as we offer them a solid project. And I think ours is. Especially since rugby is riding a very good wave at the moment in France with the prospect of the next World Cup.
NP: And if you had to reflect on the start of the season?
JS: Mixed feelings. We managed to build a good group in record time this summer, but we find ourselves in a difficult pool in a Federal 2 whose level has clearly increased compared to last season.
We lack time compared to other teams that have a different experience. Grasse for example, which is relegated from Federal 1, has retained a group of players who have been playing together for several seasons and has even strengthened with the arrival of a player like Sargos at the back.
The result is two wins and two losses, whereas we had bet on 4 wins. But I have confidence. Our team will reach its full potential during the season.
NP: 2,000 people for a Nice-Grasse in federal. It’s quite an achievement, isn’t it?
JS: In any case, it’s one of the successes of the weekend. It proves once again that rugby has its place in our city and in our department.
NP: Is Max Guazzini an example to follow in today’s rugby?
JS: In his ability to innovate and open up to other audiences, like the female audience for example, yes. In his ability to place the human aspect at the heart of his project as well. Because Stade Français also draws its strength from the spirit that reigns among the players… the family spirit. It’s a balance. Every project is above all a human adventure. It is the people who are important at this level, not necessarily the system.
NP: What are the club’s projects for the coming years?
JS: Initially, try to advance to Federal 1, but above all build a long-term project based also on training, which will allow us to produce and keep our players. This involves sports, of course, but also a complete restructuring of the club.
Nice must become the flagship club of the Côte d’Azur as it was a few years ago. Everyone in our department will benefit from it: Grasse, Antibes, Cannes-Mandelieu, Saint-Laurent-du-Var, Menton… Nice must be the bearer of a new rugby dynamic in the 06.
NP: Can you also tell us about this fabulous rugby school?
JS: 250 kids, it’s quite exceptional. It makes it one of the top rugby schools in France. Rugby is a very formative sport. It shapes citizens, which is why parents are interested… the quality of the educators does the rest for us. It’s the jewel of the club for now. But it’s important to make all these children dream. To give them the opportunity to identify with players from Nice, with a performing senior team.
NP: Don’t you think that the return of a rugby sports-study program (as it existed at Ségurane College and at Parc Impérial) would be a plus for Nice rugby?
JS: As long as we find the high level, it will only pass through there.
NP: The World Cup is coming to France next year. What will this event bring to France and Nice?
JS: The country will be 100% behind its rugby team. It can be decisive for our sport. Nice is not hosting any matches, but it must not miss this celebration, because I already know that thousands of foreign supporters will flock to the Côte d’Azur between matches. We have the responsibility to bring this event to life here… We already have a project for a big evening organized with the English club Leicester, with Martin Johnson (world champion in 2003) and Joel Stransky (world champion in 1995). We are also thinking of a World Cup village in Nice…
NP: What is your fondest memory as a rugby player from Nice?
JS: I regularly played in the first team from 1987 to 1989 before leaving for Paris to continue my studies and end my career very early at PUC. So I have significant memories of my first official match in 1985 against Bourgoin, while I was still a junior, alongside Orso, Buchet, Pelloux, Chabowski…
But curiously, it is my years in rugby school that have marked me the most. The first tournaments at the other end of France… when you are 8 years old, it’s strong. This sport can change a man’s destiny. It is the educational sport par excellence. That is why I have been in rugby for over thirty years and I am back in Nice today.
