The Carpiagne camp: its military installations, its sun, its rustic setting and soon its rugby players. Fabien Galthié likes to innovate and to launch the 2022 campaign of the Blues and the Six Nations Tournament, the coach asked the Foreign Legion, in the name of the common values shared by the XV of France and this elite corps. Fraternity, solidarity, combativeness, etc… “We will welcome them as if they were young recruits. There are a few surprises that I have in store for their arrival”, rejoices General Alain Lardet, commander of the Legion.
“Mission is sacred, it’s winning on the pitch”
“It’s a question of state of mind, explains the general. At the Legion, we put forward the mission, it is sacred. You carry it out to the end, says the code of honor of the legionnaire. It’s the same for them. The mission is sacred, it’s winning on the pitch. And of course, it won’t go as planned,” he said. “At the end of the day, there will be the strength of the collective. And even if we are surprised, we close ranks, we stick together, we fight for the comrade and we will give him good balls so that he scores the essay. When Fabien Galthié presented his project to us, I was struck by this similarity;”
The Blues at the Legion to harden their preparation
The French will therefore arrive in Cassis on Sunday and will join Camp de Carpiagne the next day, Monday 24 January. They will stay there until Friday February 4 before returning to Paris to face Italy at the Stade de France. The Blues will therefore live a good ten days in contact with the legionnaires of the 1st REC, far from the comfort of Marcourssis. They should only leave the Carpiagne camp for training at the Aubagne municipal rugby stadium. During their stay, a meeting with war wounded is planned and the Blues will also be given a white kepi, symbol of the legionnaire.
This partnership with the Legion is intended to continue
“I take this opportunity to thank Max Guazzini – the former president of the French stadium and colonel of the citizen reserve of the 1er REC – Because this partnership came through him”, assures General Lardet. The partnership between the Legion and the French Federation should continue until 2024, the year of the Paris Games. Rugby teams could for example go to prepare in Guyana in the very famous training center in the equatorial forest, continues the general. “It’s a place of cohesion, a place to shape the esprit de corps and a rather unique place of personal development.”