2023-09-18 19:17:00
2023 Rugby World Cup in FrancedossierEach week that the World Cup lasts, “Libération” invites a personality to give their personal view of the event, imagining a Spain, absent from the World Cup, triumphant. In the second row, the Catalan Cali, who, a very good opener in the regional selections in cadet, minor and junior, will finally opt for the song.
Go Spain !
For this first match, it promised to be difficult. And it was difficult. Spain defended well, but Ireland, the world’s leading rugby nation, was far too strong. The score does not give thanks for all the work accomplished by Los Leones to get there. Never mind. That is not the most important thing. We have to pull ourselves together. Never give up. In addition, there were no serious injuries to report. Just a few ailments… The next match against South Africa will be, let’s not lie, probably also very complicated. But what pride, what joy to face the reigning world champion.
Not sure that Lucas Guillaume, 3rd row of Leones, will find sleep on the eve of the match. If we had told him that when he stepped on the pitch of the Jacou stadium near Montpellier for the first time… Like all children his age, he had secretly said to himself “One day it will be me”, while admiring the TV Jean-Luc Sadourny ultimately scores the try at the end of the world on this blessed day in 1994… That’s it, we’re there, he’s there, it’s his time. The great moment of his life.
After South Africa, it will be Scotland, and then Tonga. Above all, don’t faint when you have to go through the tunnel and enter the pitch of the magnificent Matmut Atlantique stadium in Bordeaux. Archi full. Imagine: more than forty thousand people going wild, screaming at the top of their lungs their passion for this fabulous sport. No, Lucas will not lose his means. He prepared for the event of his life. Surely he will shed a few tears during the anthem, the Marcha Real. Tears that he will keep in his heart for life. At this moment he will surely think of his Spanish republican great-grandparents who fled Francoism, that fucking Franco, Franco la muerte. What revenge!
Of course, this is all fiction. This is not true. Spain was not selected for the World Cup. I have trouble even writing these words. Lucas Guillaume, like all his teammates, was not invited to what was to be the biggest event of their lives (1). However, they had deserved and then worthily celebrated their qualification for the World Cup. Three crazy days. They even made the front page of Marca, the largest Spanish daily: “El Rei Leon!”. Everything was taken back from them, with the back of an unfair and disgusting hand. A shattered, trampled childhood dream.
Will Lucas Guillaume and his entire group, thirsty for exploits, want to, and will they be able to continue playing? They now walk like lost automatons, and this life which held out its golden arms to them… Their World Cup was stolen from them! This sport, to which they gave everything, this sport which offered them so much. They will not watch Romania’s matches on TV, nor any others for that matter. Romania took their promised place. An incredible story. The deception of a malicious player, with the complicity of incompetent managers. The vice of decision-makers perhaps crooked? They got the better of innocent people, now devastated, who only asked to play the competition that was owed to them.
Why wasn’t a federation outraged? And rugby solidarity? They could have shouted: “Spain must be invited to our party!” Nothing. In Japan already, four years earlier, they should have been there. A final rigged qualifying match, with a cheating referee, who still finds the right to exercise, everything fell through. Again. That day, our national Thierry Roland could have shouted loud and clear: “Mr. Iordachescu, you are a bastard!”
Rugby is perhaps the most beautiful sport in the world. Make your children crunch it. We learn self-giving and sacrifice. The friends we make on the field will be brothers for life. In rugby, we hurt ourselves so that the friend next to us has less pain. In rugby, unlike football, there is no need for CRS around a stadium. Just look at the third half and all these fans from all these countries celebrating together. Lost, won… it doesn’t matter. It’s sublime fraternity.
The Rugby World Cup is a magnificent event, essential for bringing people together. It is overwhelming to see all these kids with stars in their eyes and the flag of their country painted on their cheeks. But it’s not for everyone. The Rugby World Cup doesn’t want Spain. I love Romania and the Romanian people. I was able to give some delicious concerts there. I was wonderfully welcomed by a country that loves poetry and has suffered too much. But it was not the Romanian rugby team that was to experience this unforgettable adventure. This is Spain… ¡ Arriba España! Happy World Cup everyone.
(1) Spain, which had won its place for the World Cup on the field, was disqualified in April 2022, following an appeal from the Romanian federation, for having twice fielded the replacement pillar, Gavin van den Berg, who, according to regulations, was not eligible.
Cali is currently on tour in France (Lille, Reims, Oignies…)
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