The world is small. And that of rugby even more.
On the sidelines, in the staff, or in front of the cameras, it is common to find former players. But some, whether they had to do without the benefits of professionalism (and therefore worked alongside sport) or whether they benefited from them, chose very different paths.
In this series, Var-Matin invites you to look back on the “other lives” of several former RCT players, between dual careers and unusual reconversions. Watch the first episode today.
Jérome Gallion alongside Eric Champ and Manu Diaz. VM Photographic Archives.
In Toulon, in his office on Boulevard de Strasbourg, only a small frame hanging on a wall echoes his rich career as a rugby player. Jérôme Gallion readily admits: “A lot of patients don’t even know I play rugby.”
Because if the former brain of the RCT is certainly a big name in his sport, his well-made head also led him to excellent medical studies.
At the time, the oval had not yet experienced the upheaval of professionalism. And little Jérôme, with his baccalaureate, wants to get into the medical sector. Moreover, he is also passionate about rugby and wears the lily of the valley jersey.
“I tried to reconcile the two, but without one being able to alter the other.he explains today. In fact, being competitive on the field also means learning to be competitive in life. Rugby taught me to be tenacious.
At the University of Marseille, the kid quickly grasps “warm notes”. From the foot of Faron to La Canebière, he divides his time between classes, homework, “entire evenings sculpting teeth” and the green rectangle.
So almost everyone in college doesn’t know that he plays at a high level. “They learned about it when they saw me on television”» laughs the Toulonnais, for whom the 1976-1977 season will be a pivotal period.
He actually gained playing time with the first team and went on tour with the French team… while obtaining his doctor of dental surgery diploma.
“For half a point, I had to retake an oral exam. Except that I was summoned the day I was supposed to fly to Argentina with the Blues. I spoke to the head of the department about it. He told me he responded: “Are you going to play with Rives, Skrela and Paparemborde? OK for tomorrow morning, 8am. He thought I was making fun of him! I had studied until 2 a.m. and, at the end of the oral, he wished me good luck. He had made inquiries in the meantime… (laughs).»
“A point of honor to do both well”
The thesis and military service will follow, at Sainte-Anne hospital. The only advantage granted: fewer working weekends, to allow him to direct the RCT game, in Mayol or across the country.
It was finally in 1978 that Gallion opened his dental practice in the city center. “I was there at 7:30 a.m. and finished at 5 or 6 p.m. to go to training. And the more we progressed, the more there were! In this, “the compartmentalization of the two activities has been extremely beneficial”.
During the day, his job as a dentist causes him mental fatigue. And when the evening comes, the little hinge player lets off steam on the meadow. “I admit, there were maybe two or three tours with the French team that I didn’t do because I was exhausted and I had to work in the office. But, at the moment, how can I say it?
Especially since if Gallion the rugby player was respected, Gallion the dentist often had to prove himself: “Walking through the fields, many people thought I received my diploma in a lucky bag. But I made it my duty to do both well.
He remained faithful to this principle until the end of his sporting career, in 1989. He then became “a little difficult to no longer have competition”.
To improve his skills, the ex-player returns to university. Then continues to process, until today. “I was lucky to know that I no longer had rugby, but I still had it”he concludes, with a smile on his lips, before going to take care of his faithful patients.
Find a new episode of our series next week.
Landmarks
Birth: April 5, 1955 in Toulon.
Later: scrum half.
Profession: dental surgeon.
Journey to the RCT: from 1969 to 1989 (French champion in 1987). 27 selections with the XV of France.
