Not retained by USC, former Carcassonne half, Gaëtan Pichon, rebounded in the off-season with rookie Massicois. He will face his former partners on Friday evening in Domic. Departure at 7:30 pm.
With 24 match cards, including 20 preliminary matches over two years (2020/2022), your departure from Carcassonne has surprised more than one… Can you explain that?
The club decided to raise the year as an option… for my contracted injury back in November against Grenoble in Domic. I have almost completely finished my right knee: the cruciate ligaments, external ligaments, popliteal tendon, fascia lata tendon, biceps longitudinal, capsule … they are all torn! During my injury in November, the only thing that kept me going was the fact that I still had a year on my contract. Unfortunately… it was mentally difficult.
Everything has gone well at USC so far, right?
I was good at Carcassonne, so I thought it would go on…except that the injury made him stop dying. The club sent me this letter in February telling me they would not arrest me. I was a little surprised, even surprised. It was very difficult! Besides not keeping the club, I got injured. And with my injury, no one knew if I would be able to resume rugby, not even the surgeon. It was very complicated.
How did the huge opportunity arise?
I was in Limaux for my rehab and for an isometric knee test, and I had Jean-Baptiste DiMartino (editor’s note: RC coach Massey Eason’s back) on the phone, and he asked me to come visit the club two or three days later. I really liked it and it just happened that way. Due to my injury, and because there were quite a few questions I had to answer, I signed a 1 year + 1 contract as an option.
Today, all doubts were removed…
That’s it, for now, I don’t feel any pain, I’m very happy, I’m knocking on the wood and I hope it continues. Today, everything is fine. My integration process went very well. Now, we’ve lost four out of five matches…
What is RCME missing to rank better?
I don’t really know, already a bit more budget I would say maybe… Actually, Massey needs to stay in Pro D2, so he’s undergoing maintenance this season. After that, RCME will get the spot it deserves. But I don’t worry too much about it. The hardest part will be this first year.
Will this match against your ex-partners be a special match for you?
Yes, I can’t wait to be there, even if I’m a bit mixed up. Now, having met under the colors of Carcassones my coaching club Perpignan in September 2020 and then February 2021, this will be the third time I have played against my former teammates. So the fear will be less. In any case, I would be happy to see my former colleagues and some leaders.
How would you rate USC’s start to the season?
Kind of like every year. Carcassonne started the practice in diesel mode, then got back up and ended up playing at the top of the table.
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