Jauzion's actions better than TV words

By JEAN-PAUL COURET in Brisbane

"Hello, I'm Yannick Jauzion from France, you are watching the World Cup on Stars Television."

It took Jauzion at least a dozen takes to record this snapshot for a television channel.

But the giant centre - he is 1.93m and weighs 95 kg - with the gentle face did it with good grace.

He hit the headlines after scoring three tries in 16 minutes during France's 61-18 win over Fiji in their opening cup game on Saturday.

But Jauzion is keen to keep his performance in perspective.

"Two of the tries were easy ones - really, the forwards worked hard to give us space and openings," he said.

The modesty of the comment was typical of a player who has been a late developer.

At 25, he had only 10 caps before the start of the World Cup, but gained valuable experience on tours to South Africa and New Zealand in 2001 and Australia last year.

"We took him because we knew he had everything to become a great centre - speed, power and swift handling," team manager Jo Maso said.

"But each time we came back thinking he was too self-effacing to make it to the top,"

The reason for these failures is probably that Jauzion was only a part-timer.

"I started to play the game when I was seven and I love it, but I decided my studies had to come first," he said.

So he waited until he had his agricultural engineering diploma after a seven-year university course before devoting more time to his sport.

At the beginning of the 2002/03 season, he left Colomiers to join neighbouring Stade Toulousain.

"Fabien Galthie [France captain] had left the club a year earlier because of their lack of financial means and ambition," Jauzion said.

"His move opened my eyes and I joined Stade Toulousain,"

In less than a year, the part-timer was a regular in the backline of French rugby's most successful club.

"My game improved a lot and I don't think I would have made it to the World Cup squad if I had been fighting against relegation with Colomiers," he said.



Jauzion rewarded Stade Toulousain with the assist that led to Vincent Clerc's try when they won the European Cup for the second time in May against Perpignan.

"Some European games are on the same level as internationals, and I had plenty of first-class experience this year," he said.

Injuries half-opened the door to the national team. He was selected for the June tour, and was one of the few players who survived three defeats in Argentina and New Zealand.

Jauzion was named in the World Cup squad, and started in all the warm-up games.

"I wasn't at all sure I would be selected before the team for the opening game was named," he said.

"To get a start was a real relief because I worked very hard for the last 12 months.

"I also was glad to play alongside [New Zealander] Tony Marsh. He really communicates a lot and is always explaining.

"We had only played together for 16 minutes in Australia two years ago, but I knew we would complement each other.

"Let's hope our partnership will succeed until the final."

* Jauzion will be on the bench for the match against Japan on Saturday.

- REUTERS

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