In an interview with AFP, the RCT full-back looked back on his lengthy suspension and raised the prospect of a return with France.

A year on, the name Melvyn Jaminet rings differently. Back to his best with Toulon, the international full-back (20 caps) is shining in the league, through the quality of his kicking game but also his assurance under the high ball. A year earlier, though, the Hyères-born player was making headlines for all the wrong reasons with a shameful video, posted by mistake on his Instagram account. “My old lady asking me if I’ve been partying. I swear, the first Arab I come across on the road, I’ll headbutt him“, he had said, worse for wear after the first match of a nightmare tour in Argentina. Suspended for 34 weeks by the French federation, Jaminet has had to graft to be granted another chance.

“At first I was doing prevention work with young people on the dangers of social media, alcohol and all the excesses we’re faced with. I did them with the gendarmerie and also with the club, with the U18 and U20 age groups“, he explained during an interview with AFP. Thanks to rugby, the former Perpignan player has “realised how lucky” he is “to do this job“. “I was a different person. That business is far behind me. I get the feeling it is for my team-mates too, and that everyone has moved on“, he went on.

“Second chance”?

Not everyone has necessarily moved on, even if FFR president Florian Grill highlighted a few weeks ago the exemplary behaviour of the player, who is still not eligible for selection with France. Jaminet, for his part, “obviously wants to come back“. Part of the last World Cup squad, the 26-year-old full-back wants to believe in it even if he starts a few lengths behind. “For now I’m focused on the club, I don’t want to spread myself thin. But I’m really determined to show I can deliver, and if I get the chance to come back with France one day, it will mean I’ve been performing and that I have to keep it going“, he told AFP.

In a position where Thomas Ramos looks unmovable, can Melvyn Jaminet get back in the mix? Not impossible. Last June, in an interview with Midi Olympique, Fabien Galthié spoke of “redemption” and of a “second chance“. So everything is still possible.