Four years after his last final, Guilhem Guirado divides his life between his insurance agency and corporate talks. The former France captain is also fitting out, upstairs in a barn, an office-cum-dressing room that will double as a little museum.

He played 202 matches in the USAP shirt between 2006 and 2013, 110 for Toulon from 2014 to 2018, and 45 for Montpellier to finish, and he hung up his boots after the Top 14 final on 24 June 2022, won 29-10 against Castres, which he played in full wearing the number 2 shirt. An interview with Guilhem Guirado, who turned 40 in June.

“Four years goes by quickly”

Guilhem, how are you? It’s been four years since you stopped…

Four years, yes, we had the anniversary party at the end of July. Four years goes by quickly, it’s crazy!

To sum up: Perpignan, Toulon, Montpellier, the France team, 74 caps, captaincies galore, and for the last match, the Brennus Shield…

Brilliant. Looking back, I realise how lucky I was and how far I’ve come, the opportunity I had to have a career as a professional player. Beyond that, it’s above all the friends I made. That’s really brilliant.

Schooled in the Perpignan dressing room

Am I wrong to say you were a “hands-on” player and captain, with a need to touch the players, your teammates, to be close to them?

Yes, because that’s how I was brought up, I was taught this sport where it was better to stick together, knowing that together we were stronger than alone. I had that feeling, I was well brought up, I was well nurtured by the Perpignan club, which taught me a lot and served me well in this sport for the rest of my career, including in some very difficult moments. That’s very important when you’re building yourself as a man, at a young age.

Any mentors?

I arrived in the dressing room in good company! It was impressive, but also intimidating, with players like Michel Konieckiewicz, Grégory Le Corvec, Bernard Goutta, legends of the Perpignan club. So even just sitting next to them was already very hard. You also have to show you’re solid to earn their trust. I also learned an enormous amount from players like Christophe Porcu: when you play with him, you learn much faster. I’m proud of the journey I had with all those players, they all gave me an enormous amount.

An insurance agency, talks and a barn

What does daily life look like for Guilhem Guirado today?

Today my main activity is still my firm and my AXA insurance agency, which I share with my two colleagues. It takes up an enormous amount of time, but I also have moments for myself, which let me share my journey and rugby through talks and seminars. Those are special moments where I like to have a role on the management side. Everything I’ve been able to transfer from rugby to the business world is very enjoyable. And I have two or three personal projects that are nearly finished. My wife and I bought a barn, and she turned the ground floor into her sewing workshop. Upstairs, I’m finishing an office-cum-dressing room, a bit of a museum. I’ve got the things stored in my garage, well protected: I’m going to dust them off. The work took me a lot of time, and I did it with my father too, to give meaning to this office. So I’ll be really happy to put in there all the balls I’ve collected, all the shorts, socks, shirts, everything to do with rugby that I’ve carefully kept. It’s something I appreciated at matches when I played for France: the shirts, the caps, and what I found most impressive and what made me proudest was often swapping ties with the opposing captain. I’ve got everything I need to try to fit out this magnificent office and this magnificent “little museum”.

The Brennus amid Toulouse’s dominance

You’ve been on emotional rollercoasters, up, down, way down, way up, but the last match was to get your hands on the Brennus Shield…

Yes, it’s true that even today it seems almost unbelievable to me. When you see the dominance of Stade Toulousain, who crush everything in their path, having been able to play in a final and win the title in 2022 in the middle of that shower of Toulouse titles, which was also a first for Montpellier, that’s something exceptional, something that marked us for life with the club. All the players who were lucky enough to play in that match and above all to be able to celebrate… It’s really something that makes me extremely proud.

Rugby politics, then his daughter’s under-15s

After playing, you got involved in rugby “politics”, on an election list…

Yes, I did get a taste of it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like the field I knew, the green rectangle, with rules where, let’s say, there were no low blows, it was fair. And there, I realised it wasn’t my idea of rugby, I was really disappointed by that world, I wanted to get out, I wanted to step back. I found a little drop of passion again with my daughter, who plays in the under-15s. It gives me confidence, it does me good, because it lets me clear my head, talk rugby again, and nobody takes it too seriously. That said, I’m still a huge fan and lover of this sport, because it still stimulates me just as much.

Guilhem Guirado, a happy man?

A man at peace, yes.

The “After the Hooter” series

They played, coached, ran clubs or refereed, and one day the final whistle blew. “After the Hooter” goes to find out what became of them once the shirt was handed back: their jobs, their projects, what remains of rugby in their daily lives. Guilhem Guirado opens the series.