Aristide Barraud, 34, is a former rugby player. Fly half, trained at RC Massy, he notably played at the Stade français and in the French under-20 team. Wounded by bullet during the attacks of November 13, 2015 in Paris, he was forced to end his career at the age of 26. He has since devoted himself to writing, art and photography.
“Last week I found some childhood photos. Color negatives, at the bottom of a shoebox, with Dragon Ball cards and a French team pin. I am so “old-fashioned” that my adolescence is played out on film. I took a leap into the past like Bretaudeau in The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain. My heart was laughing, but my eyes were misty. Ultimately, the human body is as improbable as a rugby ball. He never reacts the way you might expect.
I scanned everything and faces appeared. My Massy team, the one from my childhood, with which I won a lot, and which remained the same from the age of 10 until junior. I saw my friend Mike Tadjer again, the hooker of the Portugal team. At the time of these photos, Mike was already a good player, slightly above the others. But no one could have predicted his career at 200 Top 14 matches. He just got better, day after day, season after season.
On the bus, with Mike and the others, we read the volumes of Dragon Ball. We knew them by heart. And like all boys who grew up with Son Goku and the Saiyans, we were always convinced that we could become a better version of ourselves. Convinced that evolution is possible, that glass ceilings break with work and time.
Because, ultimately, how many of us become better? This question stuck with me for days, until Sunday October 8 and Portugal’s historic victory against Fiji. A feat carried by Mike, who reached the peak of his rugby in the last minutes of his career.
We all know people who remain fixed throughout their lives. Equal in their mood, their qualities and their faults. And unfortunately others which flow slowly. We find them ten years later, thinking about what they were. Wondering what could have happened. It’s the same story on the ground. I have known flamboyant players at 20, benched at 25, forgotten at 30. Career trajectories are as complex as an episode of Dragon Ball. They are the set of choices and refusals, opportunities and bad luck. But those who decide to become better are always one step ahead.
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