He rarely speaks to the media. Very rarely, in fact. Gilles Allou is one of those who prefer the shadows to the spotlight. This time, though, RCT’s strength and conditioning coach opened his heart to It’s Rugby. With all his simplicity, his straight talking and his memorable recollections.
At the club since 1997, Allou (70) also tells us he is ending his mission at the close of this season. At least, he will no longer be working full time. Because his love for the Var club is stronger than anything. For us, the Nogent-sur-Marne native looks back on his story in Toulon and also recalls his memories of some of the greatest players on the oval-ball planet.
IT’S RUGBY. – You are a very discreet figure in the media landscape. Is that a choice or simply your personality?
GILLES ALLOU: It’s my personality. I am fairly reserved. I just do my job and I like to stay discreet. It is a way of being. It suits me.
Can you tell us how your story with RCT began?
As a kid I followed the club as a spectator, at primary school and then at secondary school. From sixth form onwards I mixed a lot with the players of the day. I would go and watch them play and I became friends with them. Later on I opened a fitness centre. At that time RCT’s facilities were not great. So the players often came to my place for their recovery or their weights sessions. One thing led to another and I was asked whether I would be interested in taking charge of the youngsters’ physical preparation. I said yes. That is how I got a foot into strength and conditioning at RCT, around 1997.
Are you originally from Toulon?
I was born in Nogent-sur-Marne, but my father was in the navy. He was posted to Toulon and I arrived here at the age of 2. I have now been living here for 68 years. You could say I am a Toulon man, yes (smiles).
Did you play rugby?
Very little. In sport I mainly did athletics, notably sprinting, relay and discus. Before starting out as a strength and conditioning coach I was already in the sports world. I played a bit of rugby in Toulon, in Nationale B2, mainly to discover the real demands of the sport. It was for pleasure and discovery, but never at a high level.
Could you have imagined such a professional career?
Never. At the start I already had a job with my fitness centre. I came to RCT to discover, to enjoy myself, but it was not a full-time job. Little by little I reached the first team and I was offered a full-time post. That is how it happened. I would never have imagined spending 29 years as a strength and conditioning coach at RCT and living everything I have lived.
You are 70. There are very few cases like yours in professional rugby. Have you not thought about stopping?
Yes, precisely. I am stopping at the end of the season. On 1 July 2026 I will be a young old retiree (smiles).
Aren’t you afraid of retirement?
It is not fear, but I do ask myself a few questions. It won’t be a sudden stop either. I think I will always come and see the team, the staff and the players. Maybe I will handle the return-to-play conditioning of the youngsters now and then if I am asked. There is no apprehension. At some point you have to stop!
I have been lucky enough to know it all with RCT. Just in terms of facilities, the change has been considerable. When I think that the players used to come and train at my place because there was nothing available here back then... Whereas now we have one of the finest centres in Top 14. It is magnificent
Had you never thought about stopping before?
I have been lucky enough to know it all with RCT. Just in terms of facilities, the change has been considerable. When I think that the players used to come and train at my place because there was nothing available here back then… Whereas now we have one of the finest centres in Top 14. It is magnificent. And then, as a working environment, there are worse places than Toulon. Maybe that is why I have worked here for so long.
You have lived through every change in the game and in players’ physiques. How did you adapt?
It was fairly easy. There has been a lot of turnover in the strength and conditioning department and we have always had very interesting, innovative performance directors. I had my training on the doorstep, in a way. Over all those years I have learned an enormous amount. I have seen a lot of changes and improvements in players’ physiques and profiles. I have been lucky enough to follow all of that.
Has the technology also changed a lot?
Yes, considerably. I deal more specifically with return-to-play conditioning, that is to say the transition between medical care after an injury and the return to rugby. Players need to readapt and rediscover their athletic performance before playing again. At the start we worked on experience and feel. Now we have tools that make things enormously easier. The players I look after are fitted with GPS. I have an iPad and an antenna that give me live access to all the information I need during a session: speed, accelerations… They are very important tools that did not exist at all when I started in 1997.
Are you still impressed by players’ physical performances?
Impressed, no. It is part of the demands of the top level. When you play in Top 14, you can be eligible for a national team. That means you are capable of producing extraordinary performances. When you have been around that kind of performance for years, it is no longer a surprise. It has not become a routine, but it is part of how things work. Players at that level necessarily have exceptional physical capacities.
In Toulon the atmosphere is huge. And sometimes volcanic. Not everything has been rosy in the club’s journey. Did you too go through those tremors and the changes of coach?
Go through them… Not really. After a while you realise it is part of how things work and part of the game. The highs, the lows, relegation to Pro D2, promotion back to Top 14, another relegation, then promotion again… And then the extraordinary period with Mourad Boudjellal, the exceptional players we had… Now there are new things with a new president and a new centre. Everything is falling back into place. The working atmosphere is really good.
Tana Umaga and Jonny Wilkinson were fabulous. Their rigour, their availability for the supporters, their kindness, their professionalism... Many have left a mark on me but those two are apart
You have known an enormous number of players. Is there one who particularly left a mark on you?
There are two. Tana Umaga, first of all, as a player and then as a coach. It was during his time that I switched to full time at RCT, with the first team. The player was exceptional but so was the man, I guarantee you. And of course Jonny Wilkinson. I say it again, those players were fabulous. But when the human quality is there on top, they inevitably stand out. Their rigour, their availability for the supporters, their kindness, their professionalism… Many have left a mark on me but those two are apart.
Did Sonny Bill Williams also leave a mark on you?
Yes, he was already a phenomenon back home in rugby league. Our president had poached him to bring him to France. It was funny at first. We were away on camp and nobody was supposed to know he was there. He was hiding from the journalists chasing him. Those were his big debuts in the fifteen-a-side game, before the career we all know about.
How could we not mention Ma’a Nonu…
It is exceptional to have that longevity in such a demanding sport. Ma’a is perhaps the first one into the weights room and the one who trains the most. He knows he has to make extra efforts compared with the others because of his age. When you get older you have to work twice as hard. He is still there, still as motivated and, above all, as motivating. He is a role model. He coaches the players, takes a few of them with him for extras, makes them work, motivates them. He is a legend and I weigh my words.
What is your best memory at RCT?
Without doubt the first European Cup final we won, in Dublin in 2013. It really looked to be slipping away until the very last minute. I think it was Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe who saved a ball on a covering run right at the end of the match. We won that European Cup when the club had gone years without a result at the very top level. That team was magnificent. We remember Delon Armitage giving his little gesture after his try (smiles). Sadly he was ribbed for a long time by the crowds in every stadium in France, but it was a wonderful memory. It is a very fine memory because you have to realise what Clermont’s level was at that time. They were very solid.
You say you are a discreet man of the shadows, but the recognition from supporters, players or coaches must surely make you happy…
It is always pleasant to be recognised for what has been done. But I don’t feed off that. What gives me pleasure is seeing the team win, seeing the players and the staff live together, appreciate each other, share good times. And if possible, as many titles as possible. I am happy at my club.
Toulon really is a love story, isn’t it?
Yes! It is my town. My club. If I had wanted to move up financially, I would have tried to leave. It is by leaving that you can progress economically. But I have always been happy here. Maybe it is an old-fashioned outlook. Nowadays people would no longer understand you not being ready to leave to further your career. Me, I am at home, I am happy. I love it. We have had plenty of results, I have met wonderful people, players and staff alike. I have been fulfilled and I still am. The season is not over. I hope we are going to enjoy ourselves some more.
The number of injuries is exploding, at every level. How do you explain it?
It affects every club. We were spared a little in previous seasons but this year we have had a few serious ones. Giving a precise explanation would be beyond me. Several factors can come into play. The changing physical profiles, the speeds and the collisions and above all the surfaces we play on. It is not ideal to play on very fast artificial pitches. The footing and the falls are different. We do everything we can in strength and conditioning to anticipate, but some injuries are impossible to prevent. It is true that we are seeing more and more of them. I hope it is going to stop, but it is the lot of every club.
Do the fixture lists also take a toll on bodies?
Yes, certainly. The number of matches coming one after another week after week… Sometimes it is blocks of eleven games in a row. The schedules are relentless.
If you had one message to pass on to the supporters, what would you tell them?
I know how hard it is to live through the difficult periods. But I hope they support their team even in the tough moments. Being critical is understandable. They have the right to be disappointed. We can be too. But even in those moments you have to stay positive and always be behind us and push. The good times always come back, as our Champions Cup qualification proves. Everyone goes through bad spells.
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