Gwenaël Laurent, the Breton voice of Rennes

Stadium announcer at Rennes Étudiants Club since 2019, and on the Tour de France caravan this summer, Gwenaël Laurent explains how a Breton footballer fell for rugby.

One win in five rounds, 35-28 against Chambéry on the opening day, then four defeats, the latest on Saturday at the Commandant Bougouin against Bourgoin (29-35): Rennes Étudiants Club have had a tough start to the Nationale season. After a trip to Bourg-en-Bresse on 2 October, Rennes host Suresnes on 10 October. On the microphone, as he has been since 2019, will be Gwenaël Laurent, 32, the club’s stadium announcer, who went freelance in June and worked on the Tour de France caravan this summer. Interview.

Name, age, best quality?

Laurent, Gwenaël, 32, improvisation.

People mainly know your voice…

Yes, mostly my voice, but sometimes my gestures too. I think getting a stadium going takes several things. The voice, obviously: you can push it to try to get people to react, clap, sing. But sometimes it’s also in the body language and the energy. All of those things can create energy and pass it on.

What’s your kit, at the very least?

I arrive at a ground that has a sound system and a microphone, and I just bring my voice and my laptop, which plugs in.

“I’ve always had a big mouth”

What’s your background? Your passion?

When I arrived in Rennes I was 18, I’d just got my baccalauréat in Pontivy. I went to law school without knowing what I wanted to do in life. After three years I realised law wasn’t for me. I changed course, studied communications and, little by little, found a job in that field: I became a social media manager.

Were you in the student union?

No, but I’ve always had a big mouth, you know, in class, in the clubs I’ve been part of. I’m a football player at heart. Like a lot of Bretons, I didn’t know much about rugby. During my communications degree I did a rugby internship, organising a sevens tournament. Rennes Étudiants Club were in Fédérale 2 at the time, and the first match I ever saw was their promotion to Fédérale 1, against Orsay. It was a memorable game for the club, and I fell for that energy, for this very spectacular sport that is still too little known in Brittany. Even if it’s growing thanks to RC Vannes, it’s still very much a minority sport compared with football, there’s no hiding it.

Before being the announcer, I was in communications first: in my second year I did a civic service placement in the club’s comms department. During that year there was a match where the announcer was absent, and he was about to stop doing games anyway. So the club looked for a replacement. I was around, I had a big mouth… It was Yannig Escoffier, the REC scrum-half at the time, who suggested me. And since 2019, I haven’t let go of the microphone.

Ligue 1, Ligue 2, Top 14: offers turned down

Do you also do shopping centres, other events?

When I started, I had a job on the side, so I didn’t need to. It was really a passion that I did on the side and I wasn’t always paid for it. I got better, and the club offered me more responsibility: being the announcer and handling quite a few other things in the club’s events. That allowed me to stay passionate without risking my passion by going to host in supermarkets. Since I became a professional announcer, and fully freelance since June, I still turn down commercial events that don’t interest me and where I can’t express my passion.

I’ve also done women’s handball in Saint-Grégoire, hosted at Roazhon Park a few years ago, and I work with Stade Rennais from time to time. Being able to express myself with Rennes clubs today is a great reward for me. I’ve had several offers from other clubs and so far I’ve always said no, because for me it’s unthinkable to announce for clubs other than the ones I’m passionate about.

Big offers?

Clubs from Ligue 1, Ligue 2, Top 14, yes. They weren’t always direct offers, sometimes just cover, but one club wanted me. I politely declined.

White streaks for the Tour caravan

We noticed a change of hairstyle, blond streaks: to get yourself recognised?

It was to mark the end of an adventure. I went white because it matched the moment I went fully freelance, and also the moment I became an announcer on the Tour de France caravan. I wanted to mark that slightly crazy adventure with a slightly crazy gesture of its own: dyeing my hair. I don’t have tattoos or piercings, I’d never dyed my hair, and it’s true it surprised a lot of people! I really like it. The streaks will go, but I’ve stored up all the confidence and all the madness I have in me.

Do you speak Breton fluently? Or have you only learned the anthem?

I never went to a Diwan school, but it’s a song that means a lot to me, and I wanted to bring it in this year: sing it and teach it to the crowd, who often know the chorus but not the words. And yet the words are lovely: “the old land of my fathers”… It’s a traditional song that gives you energy. After singing it, after hearing it, you’re stronger.

“If we had more sport, we’d have fewer wars”

How did you learn the rules of rugby?

You pick things up when you’re interested in rugby. By talking to people, trying to understand, watching the game, the big France matches, people like me get a better grasp of the rules. Today rugby has become a bit like my family. I’ve played tennis, football, I’ve had great experiences, but professionally, what built me, what allowed me to live everything I’ve lived, what got me onto the Tour de France, is rugby.

On the Tour, there wasn’t a single day I didn’t sing the Breton anthem! Everyone who saw me on the caravan knows I’m Breton, it’s in my blood. There’s a great energy in rugby, and we have to keep that spirit that makes this sport a great school of life, as some people say. Play sport, go and watch sport, and when you get the chance to play rugby, even touch, go for it! I think that if we had more sport in our society, we’d have fewer wars and we’d sulk at each other less.