2023-06-02 17:11:08
Arrived in the Hauts-de-Seine at the start of the season, the second or third international line did not have the slaughter he had at UBB. And his status as a starter in the France team is in question.
Changing clubs just before a World Cup is always a risky choice. Yet this is what Cameron Woki decided to do, leaving with a bang last summer Bordeaux-Bègles where he had hatched at the highest level, to join Racing 92. Wanting, at 23, to get out of his comfort zone and get closer to his family in Seine-Saint-Denis. And Christophe Urios to return to Noon Olympic on the rumors of a violent clash with his former player and Matthieu Jalibert : «We made a completely false trial to these young people. I never had a problem with Matthieu Jalibert or Cameron Woki. (…) We made them look like shit. Of course they are not always easy, but I enjoyed training them! On the other hand, I had problems with others… who were not as young as them!» End of the episode.
Racing, which hired him for four seasons, “welcomes the arrival of this international player from the Île-de-France region who will continue to highlight the fertile ground of the Paris basin for French rugby”. Except that the player trained in Bobigny then in Massy experienced a serious delay in ignition. Far from his usual standards, without the slaughter nor the overflowing activity that he had at UBB.
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Admittedly, his field of action is more limited now that he regularly evolves in the cage and no longer as a flanker. Still, his performances – jagged, even sometimes transparent – disappointed within a Racing team, too, in full doubt at the start of the season. But who was able to raise the bar to climb into the final phase (like every season since his return to the elite in 2010) and have the right to challenge Stade Français Paris this Saturday (2 p.m.) in the play-off.
I adapt to my new club, it will come. I just ask you to be patient
Cameron Woki
Discreet in the media, when he had become one of the headliners of the Altosequan workforce, Cameron Woki had nevertheless mentioned his complicated beginnings during his visit to Marcoussis for the fall test matches of the XV of France. Dryly brushing aside the question of his level of play. “I can always progress. I adapt to my new club, it will come. I just ask you to be patient.” he snapped.
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And to add on the risk-taking that constituted his “move” to the Hauts-de-Seine before the World Cup: “It was my decision to change clubs. It was a desire on my part, it’s up to me to adapt, to be better. Nothing to do with my change of club, it’s just between me and myself.
From a strictly accounting point of view, he lost his offensive efficiency, not scoring any tries in his new colors, when he had scored 7 and 6 during his last two seasons in Gironde.
“I have never experienced such intensity. It was a bit of a war on the pitch.”
At the start of the year, Laurent Travers, the Ile-de-France manager, also called for patience with his new recruit. “When you arrive at a club, there are new announcements, new benchmarks, new players, a lot of pressure in relation to what has been said and written by everyone, he explained. From there, he was able to answer present and I realize that little by little, the bird is making its nest. Let’s be patient with Cameron…” Problem, over the season, the international tricolor has not found its best level. Even if he was less discreet, less transparent, less “next to his shoes”…
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In the fall, the XV of France gave him a welcome breath of fresh air. He chained three starts against Australia (30-29), South Africa (30-26) then Japan (35-17), playing twice alongside Toulouse’s Thibaud Flament, in the absence of Montpellier Paul Willense. After the tour de force achieved in Marseille against the Springboks, he let go: “We take a lot of pleasure especially when we win at the end against the world champion team. We had monsters in front of us. Physically, it was very hard and very dense. I have never experienced such intensity. There were excesses of intensity on the part of both sides. It was a bit of a war on the pitch.”
The sequel was – once again – complicated for Woki. Hit in the wrist during the victory against the English Harlequins (30-29), during the 3rd day of the Champions Cup, he had to forfeit, mid-January, for the Six Nations Tournament. Almost two months of absence. And to see, from his sofa, the remarkable performances of Thibaud Flament, omnipresent, decisive and constant throughout this 2023 edition, finished in second place behind Ireland. In the end, the absentees are always wrong and Woki has, in the eyes of the staff, lost his starting place in favor of Flament, who should pair up with Willense for the World Cup.
He’s been there for eight months, the adaptation must end. He must react like the great player he is and show what wood he is warming up
Didier Casadeï, the forwards coach of Racing 92
But Fabien Galthié had clearly reminded him, he is counting on the Racingman, who does “part of the team that made the Grand Slam (in 2022)of this premium team which has 87% of victories» : «Woki put himself in danger by changing clubs. He has been part of the adventure from the start. There is a form of trust between us and that is important.“And to add:”We seek to make the best use of the potential and the time we have available. We arbitrate with all these ideas. So far we have succeeded…”
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At the microphone of Canal +, the versatile second or third line had recently recognized that“We will have to work, of course, because no one has their indisputable place in the France team. I was the first to congratulate Thibaud for his tournament. I was very happy for him.»
The Ile-de-France club, however, expects more from him. Didier Casadeï, the coach of the sky-and-white forwards, injected him with a small booster dose in the columns of Parisian . “He has been there for eight months, the adaptation must end. He must react like the great player he is and show what wood he is warming up. It’s up to him to show us that he can be a great warrior.»
Woki is well aware that he must not relax his efforts: “I have the World Cup in mind, but above all I have these final stages with Racing.“It starts on Saturday, on the lawn of Jean-Bouin, with a boiling derby against Stade Français Paris for a place in the semi-finals of the Top 14.
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