After a year and a half of absence due to a relapse of his right knee and a few complicated months morally, Julien Delbouis, the center of the Stade Français, has made a convincing start to the season.

With two huge breakthroughs in the field, of almost fifty meters each, the second of which led to Sekou Macalou's try allowing his team to take the lead again (15-14, 35th), Julien Delbouis was one of the great architects of the bonus victory of the Stade Français against the Stade Rochelais (27-14), this Saturday.

An "XXL" performance, according to his teammate Romain Briatte, also underlined by the Parisian manager Gonzalo Quesada: "Julien was very efficient. He was beaming with happiness. We are happy to see him train for weeks on end without any problems. This is great news for the team."

Delbouis played in ten of the first twelve matches of the season (5 starts). He was simply rested for the trip to Montpellier on October 29. But his last start was against Brive (27-0), one week earlier.

"He was eating his heart out," Quesada concedes. A small thing compared to the problems that have plagued him over the past two years. We are talking about three serious injuries that kept him away from the field for many months.

First a rupture of the right femoral biceps in December 2019, ending his season. Then a rupture of the cruciate ligaments of the right knee, in February 2021, then a relapse in August of the same year when he was about to resume, forces him to go back on the operating table. He will live a white season.

After a year and a half without playing, the Under-20 World Champion (2019) finally made his return to competition at the beginning of the season. A rebirth.

"I have not been spared by injuries he breathed in mid-November in the stadium Jean-Bouin. Today, they are behind me. I'm trying to make up for lost time.