He is from Réunion, his name is Claude Hoarau, and he wears the Breton tartan and the Gwenn ha Du with energy and pride. RC Vannes have their standard-bearer. A solid one. Meet him.

“It’s the Breton flag that was created between 1923 and 1925. We don’t really have the exact date, but we celebrated its 100 years in 2023 and in 2025 too. And it was created around that time,” smiles Claude, born a little over  63 years ago. “And the story of the flag, it was just after the 14-18 war. When they created that flag, it was to give Brittany an identity. Because there was the flag, but people didn’t recognise themselves in it.’

And rugby? Why? “Rugby, I got to know it in Bayonne, I was a soldier there before coming to Brittany. I stayed in the army here, with the 3rd RIMA. And I was boxing at the time in Vannes. And then I had a friend, who was a soldier with me, a bit like my brother, and who went to the rugby, he loved it, and I followed him. So on Sundays we went along and I’ve been faithful to Vannes ever since 1992. Back then, it really was low down. We went to every match quietly, like everyone else. And then sadly, about a year ago now, he passed away just before the promotion to Top 14. And that was very hard.”

And Claude, the openly, assuredly faithful one: you are not born Breton, you become it. “When I was young, I felt something was missing.And when I arrived in Brittany, I had the feeling that this was my place. I’ve never moved from it.”

Claude the Réunion native, uncle of a well-known centre-forward, Guillaume, jokes in all seriousness: “Most people from Réunion all have a Breton ancestor, or parents whose descendants are Breton. There are four Réunion natives playing rugby at the moment. The most famous is Louis BieIle-Biarrey, who is a patron of many clubs on Réunion, because his mother is from Réunion.”

Photo: Laurent Depret

Claude’s dream? “To see him come and play in Vannes one day.” You can’t miss Claude, his big mitts, his flag, his tartan, his smile and his friends, whether at la Rabine or anywhere else. “Seeing people happy… What a sport… In Vannes, in Brittany at any rate, people are so happy to come along, and it’s a sharing, it’s a respect, and I find that’s something that… It’s important to me.”