“Some haven’t slept”: Jauneau recounts the party and the future of Les Bleuets, U20 world champions

2023-07-15 20:02:07

Baptiste Jauneau is taking advantage of one of the rare moments of break left by the festivities of a world title to answer us from Cape Town, South Africa. The scrum-half from Clermont is one of the executives of this France U20 team which swept everyone away in its World Cup, which ended on Friday with a resounding victory over Ireland (50-14) in the final. A demonstration to offer a third planetary title in a row to the Blueberries in this age category. And a size line on the list of winners of this generation.

How is the night after being world champion under 20?

BAPTISTE JAUNEAU. We celebrated it well. Some have not slept at all, others a little in the afternoon (smile). We started by enjoying all together at the stadium, then we joined the French consulate for an evening, before heading to a bar. And now, we will continue this evening, before leaving tomorrow (Sunday) at the end of the day for France. We are world champions, it must be said, but we also take advantage of the last moments together of this generation to talk to each other about all the progress made since our first match in the Six Nations U20 Tournament.

Did it hit well between you?

Frankly, the mayonnaise took very quickly. The spirit was incredible, we were all friends, all focused on the same goal. And on the pitch, it felt like we had been playing together for years.

Does securing a third title in a row for France after 2018 or 2019, did that speak to you or not at all?

Honestly, we didn’t bother about that. Above all, we wanted to write our own story, and go all the way because that was our goal.

You scored 36 tries on this World Cup, 53 points in the semi-finals, 50 in the final… Can we say that the competition is overflown?

In pool, we take the bonus every time because we didn’t want to let our opponents take points against us. It was the instruction. But we are scared against New Zealand, against England where we are led in the first half in the semi-finals and against Ireland it was tight at the break. But we made the match a little perfect behind, with this second period where we put our game in place, we did not collect points and we did not take cards. We were sure of our strength, we weren’t afraid of this team.

What does a U20 world title bring to a career?

I think it’s a passport for all of us. If one day we are led to not have too much success in our career, it can open some doors. It will also encourage clubs to trust us even more to get playing time, especially in view of the World Cup A (September 8-October 28) in the absence of internationals.

The XV of France A, is this your next personal goal?

Yes, it’s still something that hangs around in the back of your mind. When I see Emilien (Gailleton) and Louis (Bielle-Biarrey) who are of our generation and are preparing with the A’s, it makes you want to be there. They sent us messages to congratulate us from elsewhere, like Damian Penaud, Arthur Vincent or even Maxime Lucu.

What’s next for you?

I resume training with Clermont on Monday 24, in view of the resumption of the Top 14. I will not breathe much, I will have enough time to do it during the big World Cup (where the Top 14 stops ).