“He’s got the Super Mario star on his head”: Rodrigo Marta through the eyes of former teammates and the man who found him

Rodrigo Marta was a complete unknown when Dax, then in Nationale, decided to take a chance on him in the 2022-2023 season. Four seasons later, after shining for Colomiers in Pro D2, he is tearing Top 14 defences apart. It’s Rugby spoke to Mattieu Bidau and Julien Dechavanne, two of his teammates during his time in the Landes, who say they were struck by the Portuguese player’s talent but also by his attitude.

We also heard from Hervé Durquety, former forwards coach at Dax and with the Portugal national team alongside Patrice Lagisquet. The Landes native explains how he spotted Marta and puts it simply: “We could talk about Rodrigo for hours“. He describes how the Section Paloise wing came to France, why he never joined Bayonne, and lists the player’s many qualities one by one.

Mattieu Bidau: “a little gem” from Portugal

Mattieu Bidau, Marta’s former teammate at Dax, 2022 to 2023: “We had Diogo Ferreira with us, who played with Rodrigo for Portugal. He’d told us he was a little gem. In the first training sessions, we could see he was already very athletic. He was already capable of doing what he did not long ago with Pau, like that try with a little kick and gather. His humility and his work rate are his main qualities. He worked constantly, always with that good-looking kid’s smile. He already had that goal of going higher.”

“We were hoping the club would extend his contract quickly, that’s what the staff wanted, but when you’re in Nationale, at a club like Dax with a small budget, it’s hard. The big Pro D2 clubs started recruiting very early, and when we found out he’d signed for Colomiers, we were really happy for him. Along with Alex Tulou, he’s clearly one of the best players I’ve ever played with.”

“We were lucky to have him, because when we moved the ball out to the wing, even with two defenders in front of him, we knew something could happen. Everyone feels the same way about what he’s doing now. He’s a good guy, a hard worker. He’s already made his place, but he’ll keep growing with Pau.”

We played quite a bit of football with the backs and he always thought he was Cristiano Ronaldo. He even did the celebration with the little jump, shouting “SUUUUU”.

Julien Dechavanne

Julien Dechavanne: “Nobody could touch him”

Julien Dechavanne, Marta’s former teammate at Dax, 2022 to 2023: “Since he was coming in on the wing, I’d done a bit of homework on him (smiles). We saw straight away that he had huge potential. He already spoke French, by the way! We told ourselves we had a little gem on our hands. His main quality was breaking the line and scoring tries. It felt like he had, and still has, the Super Mario star on his head. Nobody could touch him. Sometimes guys went in hard on him, but he was so strong through the core and so solid on his feet that he broke the line, and once he was gone, he was very hard to stop.”

“Even in Nationale, he was running the length of the pitch every weekend. But beyond that, he played for the team. He didn’t just play for himself. We could see it would be hard to keep him. What struck me was his kindness and his work. He lived on my way to training and I gave him lifts, we talked a lot. He was very kind. He was a bit reserved back then, but on the pitch, with the ball, it was magic. After a while, we’d just give him the ball and wait for him to do something. He was a great guy.”

“I get the feeling that whatever the level, he manages to rise to it. His start to the season has been incredible. We’ve seen his footballing talent (smiles). Funny story: we played quite a bit of football with the backs and he always thought he was Cristiano Ronaldo. He even did the celebration with the little jump, shouting “SUUUUU”. We used to make fun of him, but with that try against Lyon, you can see those little football sessions are paying off (smiles). He’s a humble lad, a grafter, really nice, who fitted into the group well. When he signed for Colomiers, he felt a bit awkward about it with us. He felt like he was abandoning us, going off to Pro D2 and leaving Dax. He was right to go, of course!”

His father wouldn’t let him come on tour with us to Brazil and Chile because he’d had a bad mark at school.

Hervé Durquety

Hervé Durquety, the man who found him in Lisbon

Hervé Durquety, his former coach with the Portugal national team and at Dax from 2022 to 2023: “When I took over the Portugal national team with Patrice Lagisquet and Olivier Rieg, Patrice and I decided to alternate our weekends here in France with weekends in Portugal. We got in touch with the person in charge of the league fixtures and made the most of our trips over there by watching a lot of matches, on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. There were plenty of matches in Lisbon, including at Rodrigo Marta’s club, Belenenses. He was 18. We were about to go on tour and we built around a core of players who had reached the final of the junior world championship against Japan. Simão Bento was one of them. We had also unearthed José Madeira. And about Rodrigo, I have a story. His father wouldn’t let him come on tour with us to Brazil and Chile because he’d had a bad mark at school. It’s still funny and pretty unusual to turn down a national call-up over a bad mark at school.”

“What he does in matches is one thing, but in training… At Dax, in some opposed sessions, he’d control the ball with the inside of his foot… Kicking isn’t his strong point but he does incredible things. In training, it’s a treat to watch players like that, who make things happen, who create. His physical qualities… He bounces off people, he’s a pinball. From the start, we knew he was a star.”

“We go to Russia with the Portugal team and while we’re there, Rodrigo tells me: ‘Hervé, I want to play in France’. At the same time, Raffaele Costa Storti has a trial at Bayonne, Yannick Bru and Jeff Dubois are delighted with it and make him an offer, but he goes to Stade Français. So he goes there, and at that point I tell Jeff: ‘Listen, I think I’ve got a player with different qualities from Storti, it’s Rodrigo Marta and he wants to come and play in France’. He replies: ‘That would be great, but I won’t hide from you that Yannick Bru got his fingers burnt when Storti didn’t stay’. A few days later, Jeff, who has just taken over at Dax, asks me to join his staff. I tell him I’m happy to come, but that there’s a player I want to bring with me. He’s from Portugal, he’s an X factor, a European Fijian. He says: ‘Hervé, we’ll take him, I trust you, we need a player like that’. He took him sight unseen and trusted me. All the better for us, for Dax and for Rodrigo.”

He’s the perfect son-in-law every father-in-law would love to have!

Hervé Durquety

“In his first training sessions at Dax, he won everyone over. The thing is, he rises to the level of whatever team he’s playing in. He has no limits. Rodrigo is an alien. He’s on another planet. Right now, he’s enjoying playing, trying things. He’s very ambitious. He wanted to play in the Top 14, he always told us so. He’s a serial try scorer. The try line gets him going. But you shouldn’t reduce him to an attacker, because he’s also a serious defender. He’s very good in the air and under the high ball. That’s why he’s at Pau, because that team has excellent players in that area. He’s good everywhere. He’s a leader too. He’s taking on a stature that’s incredible.”

“He’s a hard worker. He’s endearing because he’s a good-looking lad. He’s the perfect son-in-law every father-in-law would love to have! He’s a likeable boy, nothing ever goes over the top! He ticks every box. Rodrigo watches a lot. He reads situations. He’s very intelligent. He knows where he’s going. Rodrigo is on a mission. He’s very smart in the way he plays. He only makes good plays, he never does anything pointless. When he has the ball in hand, watch out! He’s a UFO. It’s great to see because he’s neither two metres tall nor 100 kilos. Let’s stop pigeonholing players and stop sticking to set profiles. Doors didn’t open for him at first because of those profiles everyone is looking for.”