Nadir Megdoud: "My choice was an obvious one

Has the Stade français found its "UFO"? It is probably still too early to say. But Nadir Megdoud, the latest addition to the Parisian squad, has all the qualities of a player as the coach of the France Fabien Galthié defined him at the time of using this new verbal unctuousness of which he has the secret since he took over. The new Parisian winger does not have a life path like the others. On the contrary. He is one of those players with atypical backgrounds, with a richer life experience than that of a pure product of the padded comfort of a training center having only known the rails leading to professional rugby. It is true that he joined the pros at the age of 19 at Brive, after having started playing rugby at Rugby Créteil Choisy in the Paris region and having passed through the Massy nursery. But the rest is not linear.

Eight Top 14 games including six as a starter in the 2017/2018 season, he scored two tries on the 14th day, against the leader of the championship at the time, Montpellier. Unfortunately, he is injured and must end his season quickly. He will not play again with the CAB of Nicolas Godignon. The reason? The lassitude wins him. I didn't feel very good there anymore," he says today. I was far from my family, I missed my friends and my region. So I asked the club to let me go, which the president Simon Gillham kindly accepted. He understood my position." And for good reason. Megdoud had no desire to join another professional club. He put an end to his career at only 21 years old. I wasn't enjoying it anymore," he says. I just wanted to play with friends, to have fun. In life, I always try to do what I want to do and what I like."

"It was in Federal 2 that I realized the value of work"

A new stage of life opens then. He answers the requests of the club of Beauvais, club of Fédérale 2. There, there are some of his buddies. He says "banco". "For us, it was a godsend, remembers Jean-Pierre Lalloz, the coach at the time. Athletically, he was out of the ordinary for the level we were playing at. But above all, I felt that he was a kid who just wanted to rediscover the pleasure of the game, the pleasure of sharing with his friends. And then he found himself in a club that took care of him. At Beauvais, he was part of the group." He played two seasons there, rising to the top of the Fédérale 1. Paradoxically," he says, , "it was at Beauvais, in the second division, that I became aware of the value of work and that I got a taste for it." "Very quickly, I suspected that he would return to the professional world," Jean-Pierre Lalloz emphasizes. He had all the qualities. He is a hard worker. It was just that he had to adapt to the hardness of the competition and the degree of requirement. Because the Pro D2 or the Top 14, it's another world. A world that seduces him again. "The desire to try again has indeed titillated me, confides the Algerian international. And it worked out well because it was the moment when Nicolas Godignon, who had launched me in Brive, took over the Rouen club in Pro D2."

Are you still following? Nadir Megdoud quickly became one of the main weapons of the Normandy club. Last year, he accumulated 22 starts, 8 tries and some personal exploits. To the point of being considered as a reference in his position in Pro D2. And does not pass unnoticed. Some Top 14 teams are interested in him, are asking for information and are courting him. I met with the directors of Racing," he reveals, , "but since I was a child my two clubs have been PSG and Stade Français. My choice, it was an obvious one."

Of course, there is a catch. Megdoud is not at the end of his contract. But the possibility of joining the Pink Soldiers is stronger. Very quickly, Rouen's leaders understood this and, through the voice of their president Eric Leroy, published this press release in the middle of the summer: "Despite a contract running until June 2024, Nadir Megdoud has done everything to leave the RNR this season. Despite the disappointment of the club that revived the player's career, RNR is moving forward and actively preparing its new season with all its staff, players and staff, all involved in our project."Once again, the new Stade Français winger is doing what he wants to do, what he likes. A state of mind that he wishes to put at the service of the club of the capital in full reconstruction. At Brive, I probably lacked maturity," he says with a little hindsight. But today, I am in the best possible conditions to give the best of myself. I'm not far from my family, my friends and my favorite club." With this objective, not without a sense of humor: "To play as much as possible because 28 games in the pros for a 25-year-old isn't much."