Benjamin Roquebert missed the first two calls. But we will not hold it against him. From his tractor, the 38-year-old player did not hesitate to ring us back to look over Saint-Sulpice-sur-Lèze’s magnificent win last Sunday against Floirac in the Fédérale 1 semi-final (30-32).
On Sunday, in Lourdes, he will play the last match of his rich career against Peyrehorade of the Landes, in the Fédérale 1 final. A life of sacrifice to get there.
Twenty years at the same club, knees at the end of their life, a family farm to keep running and, in spite of it all, a national final as the full stop. Roquebert opens up to It’s Rugby and dodges nothing: the pressure before the final battle, his team-mate and friend Franck Tebaldini, the plight of farmers and his deep-rooted conviction that he deserves to go out on a title. Interview.
IT’S RUGBY. – How do you feel physically after that very intense semi-final against Floirac?
Benjamin Roquebert: They drained my knee yesterday, taking out a fair amount of fluid (laughs). They gave me an injection as well. That is how I feel! (smiles) It was a match that stung, against a really solid side.
What made the difference, in your view?
We knew we had only one way of beating them: winning the war on the floor. If we did not get their ball back and let them build up volume in their game, it was going to be far too complicated for us. That is why we took the initiative. We told ourselves that if we did what was needed on the deck and slowed their ball down, we had a chance. We even did better than that. We stole a fair few balls off them. Because of that, they could not get their game going. That is certainly what won it for us.
The mental side must have counted too, no?
Yes, enormously. We are a team that never lets anything go. We knew the solidarity we have shown for several seasons was going to pay off. That is what won it for us at the end of the match, and even when I made that mistake in the in-goal. They picked me up. I am really proud of them. They are incredible.
I really want to congratulate them, they were fabulous from 1 to 23. And the crowd as well. If we win that match it is thanks to them. They get behind us so hard that you feel wings growing
On that note, when you concede that try late in the match, what goes through your heads?
I was crushed. I had a huge lapse of clarity brought on by fatigue. I was really cooked. I told myself I had done something stupid, that I had probably lost us the match. But the lads all said to me: “Come on, we are going back at them, we are going to do it.” And Nico Labro (the team’s full-back, editor’s note) said: “I am going to charge them down, I am staying in front.” He charged them down and that is exactly what happened! It is incredible. I really want to congratulate them, they were fabulous from 1 to 23. And the crowd as well. If we win that match it is thanks to them. They get behind us so hard that you feel wings growing. Even when it is hard, you tell yourself you must not give in, because behind you there are whole crowds of people living it to the full. It is thanks to them that we manage to lift ourselves on the pitch.
The final against Peyrehorade will be played in Lourdes. Should we read something into that?
I am going to dip the leg in, it will do me good! (laughs) Above all it is the last match of my career. I am glad to have got this far because I really am at the very end of the road. I hope for a happy ending because I think I have earned it, with all the sacrifices I have made. Playing twenty years in senior rugby at the same club is not given to everyone. It is the club of my heart. I want to bring them something and that means a title. This club has never won anything apart from a Pyrenees championship in 1989. We need a national title to leave our mark and get this club recognised across France. It deserves it so much. It is a club with heart, that fights with the weapons it has, and fights well.
Have your team-mates pushed you to do one more season?
Yes, they will not stop pestering me (laughs). But now they have understood that this is the end. I really cannot do it any more. The surgeon has been telling me off for three years. He has been saying for a long time that it would be a good idea to put a stop to all this. I will turn 38 next month. That is enough. Even if it will be hard not to walk out on the pitch any more, not to be able to help my mates, to find myself behind the touchline… That is the game. We are only passing through. Time takes its toll on the body. Even if the head is still there, physically, it really is no longer possible. I have no regrets. I have made the most of it.
A team-mate told me to ask you this question: have you already booked the appointment with the surgeon for the knee replacement?
(laughs) We are going to try to wait a little, all the same. But it smells strongly of a replacement! Never mind, they make nice ones these days (laughs).
We hope things will change quickly, because otherwise we are going to lose a lot of colleagues. It is damaging, especially when people end up taking their own lives. It is serious that it should come to that in 2026
You are also a farmer. How have you experienced this particularly difficult year for the profession?
I am one of the hardliners on the A64, we are at the heart of the fight. It is a rather particular job. The economic climate makes it hard to make a proper living from it. Thank goodness it is a job you do out of passion, that we are capable of making a lot of sacrifices. But only up to a point. We hope things will change quickly, because otherwise we are going to lose a lot of colleagues. It is damaging, especially when people end up taking their own lives. It is serious that it should come to that in 2026. We hope the French state will look into our case. Europe is all very nice, we help others a great deal, but I do not get the impression that the others help us much. Things have to change if we want our countryside to keep being worked, our fields maintained, and to avoid agricultural deserts everywhere.
Will giving up rugby free up time for the farm?
Yes, of course. I have the advantage of working with family, with my father and my brother. We manage to get by and to free up a fair bit of time. And then rugby, when I say it is over, it is not really over! (laughs) I will go and watch them. I will not be far from the pitch. It will be hard at first, but I will still go along with them. You cannot give it all up just like that.
Coming back to this final, two amateur clubs are going to face each other for the national title…
Yes, I am really happy to be playing a team like Peyrehorade. It is certainly going to be the hardest match of the season because they are the same as us: they will not give an inch. I have never played them, I do not know them at all but they must have a great mentality. I am really glad a team like that is in the final. It proves that amateur rugby has not completely disappeared from our countryside. Especially at that level. In Fédérale, you often play against sides with a lot of foreign players, which is fairly regrettable. There are very good players in France, I do not see why we should go looking elsewhere to play at that level. Those are sporting choices, choices made by clubs and coaches, but that is not the way I think. Sunday is going to be a wonderful rugby occasion, with a lot of passionate people around the pitch. I hope the final will be an open one and that we will get a happy ending.
And you, what frame of mind are you in going into this final?
I think I have never felt so much pressure in my life! Normally I handle it well and I drink it in (laughs). But not this time. On Sunday, I was very much caught up in the emotion. I struggled to hold it together. Seeing our former team-mates, close friends, put together a tractor convoy to escort us out there… It is fabulous. Even players in my own team did not realise just how much people were living it. They go with us. If they could put the boots on, they would. We are as one. That is what matters in this sport, being united so that it ends well.
I have lost strength, my knees hurt. If it is the winning penalty on Sunday, maybe I will find the resources to try to put it between the posts
So your knees are in a bad way, but are you still kicking 60-metre penalties?
Oh no, that is done for. (laughs) I need to move at least ten metres closer… I have lost strength, my knees hurt. If it is the winning penalty on Sunday, maybe I will find the resources to try to put it between the posts. But let us not dream too much (smiles).
A word on your captain Franck Tebaldini?
Franck is a monster. An incredible person. He is fairly modest in build, but with his top off he is thick-set, you have to watch out for him! (laughs) He is an exemplary captain. He is everywhere. He tackles 120-kilo locks without a second thought. With players like that, you can go anywhere. He never gives in, he speaks incredibly well. He is the one who steals three or four balls while we are down to fourteen against Floirac. It is thanks to players like that that we manage to raise our game. And I have not even mentioned Lucas Cadorin… A brace, incredible conversions, he was massive. Without all that, it would not have happened. All the planets have to be aligned. Otherwise, what an ending! I went through the 2012 final, sadly lost. We had a team with a lot of heart but perhaps a little less rugby. This time, we tick every box. Now it is up to us for Sunday’s final battle.
That 2012 final, is it your only regret?
You always have regrets. You always tell yourself you could have done better. In 2012, we had beaten Bagnères with a penalty at the end of the match, they had given us an enormous amount of trouble. We had beaten Rodez at Gaillac in the semi-final and on a kicking shoot-out. You felt it was going to happen, but only just, by the skin of our teeth. This time, even though on Sunday we were in a bit of trouble late in the match, we found the resources to turn things around. You sense there is something in the tank. We are capable of reacting and taking charge. Sunday is going to be a huge battle, but we have the weapons to do something.
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