Rassie did not win: 'Sacrebleu!'

Yesterday at 04:13 AM

This past Sunday, in the iconic Salle des Étoiles in Monaco, Jérôme Daret, head coach of the gold medal-winning French Sevens team at the Paris Olympic Games, made history for two significant reasons.

First, he became only the second Frenchman to receive the prestigious Coach of the Year award, following Bernard Laporte in 2002.

Second, he broke new ground as the first-ever Sevens coach to claim the coveted trophy, which has traditionally been reserved for 15-a-side coaches.

Since the inaugural World Rugby Awards in 2001, New Zealand has claimed the Coach of the Year title 10 times, followed by South Africa, Ireland, and England with three wins each, and Australia and France with two apiece.

This year, many anticipated that Springbok mastermind Rassie Erasmus would once again take the honour, as he did in 2019, given South Africa's near-flawless 2024 season.

A double shock: not only did the award not go to Erasmus, but it was also handed to a Sevens coach.

Sacrebleu!

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The coach, facing his own decisions

"All the players have made a contribution, and their mission was to position Sevens within the landscape of French rugby, but also within Olympic sport," continued Daret.

"It's a lot of sacrifices, a lot of travelling around the world, and many tough decisions.

"Making a selection of 12 + twoplayers for the Olympics when you've used over thirty isn't easy, and you're constantly challenging yourself when you make those choices.

"It's something to be proud of.

"Every match, you're challenged by every coach on the planet.

"Sevens is like a chess game, with a lot of strategy behind every ball. You have to stay at the top of your game all the time."

Not even New Zealander Gordon Tietjens, widely considered the greatest Sevens coach ever, has had the privilege of receiving such an honour.

"He's won everything, except the Olympics," Daret notes, before becoming more reflective.

"That's when you truly measure the significance of this competition.

"It's not just global—it's planetary, universal.

"Sevens is a particle accelerator for developing players' skills."

Jérôme Daret already knows what he's going to do with this historic trophy.

"I'm going to give it to my son, Simon.

"I sent him a little message saying it was for him," he shared with RugbyPass.

"It's been seven years of sacrifice, and my wife and son have always been supportive.

"I'm going to give it to him.

"I think he'll put it in his bedroom.

"He's 18 now. When I started, he was just 11," Daret reflects.

By Willy Billiard
@RugbyPassFrance