1860 replies to this topic

[George Abitbol]

Vu qu'on ne compte pas investir dessus cette année, il lui faut être en capacité de s'intégrer facilement donc de parler le français.

Et JIFF.

[ghilou]

 
Eh beh oui c'est évident, c'est lui qui remplacera Galtier sur F2 !

Je serais (agreablement) surpris : on s'improvise pas consultant à la place de Galtier qui commentent tout les matchs en prime time... Sachant que la CDM va arriver dans la foulée de cette fin de saison (que Benjamin va vivre dans la peau d'un joueur) je n'y crois pas trop...

Mais j'espère me tromper.

[OliveR]

Sempere semble correspondre à ces critères. Reste par contre à connaître sa capacité à s'intégrer dans un collectif aussi huilé et d'un autre niveau que celui du SF.

Champion de France 2015, vainqueur de la Challenge Cup 2017, il aura(it) ses repères à l'ASM...

[Pâquerette]

Je pense pas que Kayser était attendu à un tel niveau cette année par le staff, son niveau de jeu et sa prolongation ont redistribué les priorités en cours d’année...

 

 Encore un partant, et non des moindres !

 Qui c'est qui nous enverra des pizze, maintenant ?  

 Stopper sa carrière en avance pour se protéger plutôt que d'attendre la blessure de trop est une sage décision, dans le contexte actuel d'accidents très graves et plus... Il n'a guère été épargné de fait, comme beaucoup d'autres joueurs chez nous.

 Allez, encore quelques efforts, pour partir en apothéose avec un doublé !

 Merci pour ces belles années et bonne chance pour la suite, quelle qu'elle soit !
 

[Rugby ?]

Je pense qu'en est à la recherche d'un mec capable de partager son temps de jeu de façon équitable avec Ulugia et qui est fort sur les basiques du poste, notamment la touche.

Vu qu'on ne compte pas investir dessus cette année, il lui faut être en capacité de s'intégrer facilement donc de parler le français.

Sempere semble correspondre à ces critères. Reste par contre à connaître sa capacité à s'intégrer dans un collectif aussi huilé et d'un autre niveau que celui du SF.

Faut demander à Slimani !

[Redmond Barry]

Je serais (agreablement) surpris : on s'improvise pas consultant à la place de Galtier qui commentent tout les matchs en prime time... Sachant que la CDM va arriver dans la foulée de cette fin de saison (que Benjamin va vivre dans la peau d'un joueur) je n'y crois pas trop...

 

La CDM n'est pas diffusée sur France TV mais sur TF1.

[ELSAZOAM]

 

Eh beh oui c'est évident, c'est lui qui remplacera Galtier sur F2 !

Pas sûr du tout !

O. Magne est sur la short-list du Service Public pour remplacer Galthié ! (LM du 28/05)

[DOUDOU63]

Il terminera sa carrière par une finale au SDF....Aussi, j'imagine que la motivation pour ce match, est toute trouvée pour KAYSER !!! Et la boucle sera bouclée de la meilleure des manières.......  

[titoune]

Jespère quon gagnera parce quil le mérite vraiment. Ça serait un très beau cadeau surtout après la coupe en challenge

[DOUDOU63]

Jespère quon gagnera parce quil le mérite vraiment. Ça serait un très beau cadeau surtout après la coupe en challenge

Finir comme STRETTLE serait le top pour ce joueur!!!

 

ITW de Benjamin à la fin du match....

[yanoch]

Bon bon, une finale et puis s’en va. Y va me manquer le Benji, j’ai toujours aimé ce joueur, notamment lorsqu’il a éclôt au SF, il avait déjà ce charisme qu’on lui trouve lors de ces prises de parole. Je lui souhaite de tout cœur de finir avec le titre.

[George Abitbol]

J'ai tout compris à son interview.

Son Anglais est vraiment parfait.

[bazooka]

[JB 03]

Chouette article dans The Telegraph :

 

 

Clermont's Benjamin Kayser prepares to bow out in the Top 14 final - 'I should have stayed for longer at Leicester'

 

Benjamin Kayser plays his final game of professional rugby for Clermont on Saturday

•  Ben Coles 

14 JUNE 2019 • 6:29 PM

 

Half an hour gives you more than enough time to hear some fantastic stories from Benjamin Kayser, who will retire on Saturday after playing in the Top 14 final for Clermont.

Let us begin however by explaining how a 22 year-old French hooker, born in Paris and playing for Stade Francais, ended up in Leicester Tigers' famed front row 12 years ago.

 

“I was on the bus sat next to Agustin Pichot[now the World Rugby vice-chairman], who was speaking to Leicester trying to help his mate Juan Martin Hernandez with a possible move there from Stade," Kayser explains.

"Pichot asked what I was doing about re-signing with Stade and suggested me moving to Leicester.

"He sent a text and had an answer back from the club saying yes, let’s talk about it. And that’s how it happened. The week after Richard Cockerill called me and knew everything about my life, everything about me. I knew they meant business. I loved every second of my time there.”

Apart from Christopher Tolofua's recent stint at Saracens, similar transfers for French players between the Top 14 and Gallagher Premiership have been rare.

Kayser, an English speaker after living abroad in the United States and China during his childhood, came to England at a time while Philippe Saint-Andre was in charge of Sale, joined there by Sebastian Chabal, Leo Faure and Sebastian Bruno. Raphael Ibanez was still at Wasps.

"That season before I joined, Leicester smashed everyone. They put 40 points on Gloucester in the final and just lost the Champions Cup final to Wasps. That year we faced them in the quarter-finals at a packed Welford Road on a Sunday, the sun was out, it was beautiful. That amazing stadium against a wonderful team," he recalls.

"It was the game where Juan Martin Hernandez smashed Alesana Tuilagi into touch. I knew it was a special place. It has always appealed to me.

"Leicester were far more professional than Stade at the time, with their training ground and preparations and facilities, whereas Stade were relying on the talent of players. I was super happy at Leicester, it was a blessing for me. I probably should have stayed for longer, one more year."

Watching Leicester’s current struggles from afar has been painful for Kayser, particularly as he remains good friends with head coach Geordan Murphy. He can see where Leicester have lost their way.

“When you the core of the club leaves, guys like Ed Slater no longer there, you know something is wrong. It makes me very sad. I watched a couple of games and could not believe they were fighting for relegation. How could it possibly get to that point?

"When you look at the line-up, it’s an amazing team. Leicester are a fantastic club, but they need a good look in the mirror and to change things within. They have great players and a great coach in Geordie. But they need to work out what the new era is going to be.”

Saturday will be Kayser's last game as a player because he does not want to find himself booked in for a third operation on his neck in 20 years' time, given all the risks that such a procedure would entail.

"I have two young girls. At 55 I want to be playing tennis and sprinting everywhere, not wondering why my foot is numb and my fingers are twitching."

Kayser has been going for regular check-ups on his neck over the last five years ever since an initial operation on his discs. Back in February, one of those check-ups led to a warning that his condition had deteriorated, and that one more 'stinger' would signal the end of his career. That nightmare manifested itself against Harlequins in the Challenge Cup semi-final.

"I came off at the end of the game and for me, that was it. I went into the changing room on my own and completely cracked. Nobody saw it, because the game was still going, but I thought it was over."

Fortunately the stinger was related to pressure on his soldier rather than Kayser’s neck, and he has gone on to play a pivotal role in Clermont’s Challenge Cup title win in Newcastle and now their Top 14 play-off run.

The concern over his neck has unquestionably made his decision to retire an easier one. Kayser did not want to sign up for another year, after such a successful season, and find himself "in a suit in October, because I have played five s--- games protecting myself and gradually getting worse."

If anything Clermont were relieved. After all, as Kayser puts it, how could the president and coaches let him play on when they knew the risks attached? Kayser has spent over half of his 15-year professional career with les Jaunards, the man from French capital making Clermont his home.

"It is by a mile the biggest club of my life, the most important of my life. It is a good sign for a club when players stay for nearly a decade. You believe in the culture, build deeper roots in terms of relationships, through the wins and losses," Kayser explains.

"I have played seven years of rugby with Damian in Clermont, 10 finals, only two titles. So there have been a lot of tough moments to swallow and fight back from. There have been some beautiful moments as well. That creates a strong bond.

"When we won the Top 14 in 2017, I think of Morgan Parra, Alexandre Lapandry, Aurelien Rougerie, Chouly, Sebastian Vahaamahina, we went through some tough times. Of course I was happy for the young bucks like Damian Penaud who do not have a care in the world.

"All the others, I went to some dark places with those guys, so I was super pleased to win it. Same with the Challenge Cup. Hopefully the same with the final on Saturday."

Kayser might have ended up at Clermont earlier in his career than 2011. He was encouraged to return home by the France head coach at the time, Marc Lievremont, having impressed in the Premiership. 

He ended up turning Clermont and Toulon in 2009 to return to Stade for the challenging of displacing Dimitri Szarzewski. The way Kayser tells it, he was almost provoked into doing so.

"Somebody told me I could not go back to Stade because Dimitri Szarzewski was there. What do you mean I can’t go back? It’s my club. I was born there. I know everyone there. What do you mean I can’t go back?

"I can fight for my position, that is my decision, but nobody can tell me that I cannot go back. It was also myself and Dimitri in the France team and there was a bit of a rivalry.

"He told me if I came back to Stade it was going to be war. I said I will sign tonight. It was a c--- decision, but I wanted to come back to Paris because my grandad was not very well and I wanted to be close to him towards the end."

Moving to Stade Francais turned out to be a disaster - Ewen Mackenzie was sacked early into the season, went back to Australia and won a Super Rugby title with the Reds two years later - and after one season with Castres, Kayser finally arrived at the Stade Marcel Michelin.

He began preparing for life after rugby some time ago, opening an Eden Park clothing shop in Clermont followed by a couple more stores. Kayser will play for Clermont on Saturday, take a week off on holiday with the family, and then get to work. 

His clear message to club's young stars, including France wing Penaud, is that rugby is not everything in life. 

"Being a leader in the club and wanting to show the young guys what the priorities are… don’t place rugby too high. It’s a sport. It is fun. You are meant to enjoy it. It is not everything in your life. One poor decision by a coach does not make you a good or bad bloke, a rich or poor man, a good or a s---life. S--- happens.

"Never forget that we are extremely lucky to consider this as a job and a career, but at one point real life will sneak up on you. I have a lot to look forward to. But I have enjoyed every second of my career. In French we say it has been a parenthèse dorée, a golden period, in my life. We are very, very lucky."

Kayser arrived after Clermont had just lifted their first-ever French title in 2010 after so many defeats in the big game, with the club were still viewed as luckless, incapable of winning the major trophies.

That concept that Clermont are still a cursed club, Kayser insists, is nonsense. Lazy, even. The club's young stars, such as Penaud and Judacial Cancoriet, have tasted more success in cup finals than failure.

"It is an easy way of summing up Clermont, when you do not know Clermont. We won the semi-final last weekend and Mr. Chabal was on the television saying ‘Yeah, but you know Clermont tend to struggle in the final’. And I thought, not you. Impossible. Not him.

"When has Damian Penaud struggled in a final? He was won two, lost one, off the bench against Saracens in the Champions Cup by five points, and Saracens were miles better than us. It was not a collapse, we lost to the better team.

"I just feel it is an easy way out for journalists who do not want to dig deeper and do their jobs better, than just looking at the easy comment."

It only seems fair at this point to argue that there has always been a certain romance about Clermont, the behemoth of a club in both France and Europe with the empty trophy cabinet that finally ended their drought in 2010, which Kayser acknowledges. Although there is less sympathy for Clermont these days, a by-product of their recent success.

"In 2017 [when Clermont won their second title], I could feel that French rugby was happy for us. ‘Poor buggers, they deserve a bit of silverware.’ This year, they all want us to die, because we have been smashing everyone,” he laughs.

"You always like the outsider, not the favourite. Not that we are the favourite against Toulouse. People hating us more means we are winning more, and that might be a good sign."

Kayser played 37 times for France but acknowledges that his best memories have been made with Clermont, describing the Stade Marcel Michelin as arguably the best club stadium in the world. "It is extraordinary."

The town as well has left an indelible impression on both Kayser and his young family. "It is a special place, passionate, humble people. An easy way of life. The importance of life is put into the right things: being respectful, not flashy, hard working. Wherever we go, we will miss those morals."

He will be there next season at the Stade Marcel Michelin, watching from the stands.

There is so much left for him now to enjoy in life after a golden career, one which could be capped off by lifting the Bouclier de Brennus again on Saturday night, back in the city where he was born.

 

[steph]

Il aura eu une belle carrière ! Un titre pour finir en apothéose ?