Rugby is the most beautiful, the biggest, the noblest of sports. Cycling, boxing and sailing are approaching.

They also demand that they go to the paroxysm of pain. But these disciplines are practiced solo.

Rugby, the only sport of collective combat, goes further. He claims the absolute: to sacrifice himself for his team-mate, his brother-in-arms. It requires humility and generosity, bravery and trust. There is no stronger, more beautiful offering than this gift of self, this suffering granted to preserve the teammate.

Who has not experienced these moments of total fraternity in a rugby locker room can understand. The rugby player can not succumb to the cult of self. For he knows that he is nothing without the others. Really. He REALLY needs others. Of all the others. From the small, the big, the bright, the talented. It is with them, by uniting their disparate forces, that he can hope to conquer. Moreover, to apprehend this unique mixture of brutality and finesse requires a real reflection. Pass the ball back to advance. Head and legs. The heart and the fists .. Inside, in his guts, the rugbyman fights against his fear. He knows that he must subdue it, not for himself, but to live up to the sacrifice of his fourteen partners.

“Day of glory” on April 27, 2014 in Ruffec the local club of Rugby played the final of the regional championship of Rugby, I returned in the locker rooms and bringing me closer to the sportsmen to disappear and especially being part of the team “proximity paradox” closer I experienced the emotions as I was part of the team. The 16th man. [Official Website]