Sacha Coris loves rugby. So much so that he has made refereeing more than a passion: an investment. At 19, the second-year student at an engineering school in horticulture and landscaping in Angers is the embodiment of that investment, but also of willpower and a smiling rigour. 

Rugby came to Sacha in the shape of an encounter. Inevitably: in life men cross paths, in rugby they meet each other…”I was 12. It was the son of a friend of my mother’s, who today is one of my best friends, Milo. He came round for lunch and told me about rugby. I was looking for a team sport at the time, I’d already tried several sports but I’d never heard of rugby.”

Sacha gave this strange sport a go on the final taster day at SCO Angers Rugby. Love at first sight: “I liked it, I took out a licence at U14 and stayed through to U18. I loved running, I loved playing on the wing. But the position I enjoyed most, in my first season at U16, was flanker, that’s where I really had the most fun!”

So why turn to refereeing? “I don’t really know how to explain it, but it always appealed to me a little. I moved into refereeing after meeting Aymeric COURCELLES and
Valentin HARRIBEY, who are federal referees at SCO Rugby. That’s how I got my foot in the door.”

Sacha has put together a run of good matches recently, he is progressing. But he immediately corrects himself: “There are also some really bad games, I’ve already had days where I was completely off the pace!” But that remains rare. “I was assessed recently on a really good game, I’m pleased, it was in Excellence B.”

Sacha, like his colleagues, is assessed, trained and advised within his committee in the 49.  “I have several ambitions. In the short term, the ambition would be to become a federal referee. In Fédérale 3, that would be nice. And otherwise, in the long term, the aim is going to be to climb as high as possible.”

With an inspiring example, Hugo DUTREUILH, a professional referee: “He runs our training sessions within the Pays de la Loire unit, along with other federal referees and his father, Christophe, who leads the courses.”

Hugo DUTREUILH started out as a regional referee, he climbed every rung, year by year, and has not yet reached his glass ceiling or his Peter principle threshold!

Sacha’s passion for rugby is intact: “I love this game, you have to guarantee fairness, accuracy.” The referee? Not a vigilante, just someone who has to be fair… 

Sacha: “Yes, the aim is to be fair, it isn’t only about blowing the whistle, it’s also about not blowing it. That’s more or less my philosophy, respecting a certain fairness and allowing the teams who want to create something to do it.”

In fact, he applies on the rugby pitch what he is learning to do in his future job: sorting, being consistent, letting the light through or, if need be, cutting.

Between engineering school and matches and their preparation, the weeks are busy: “Some Mondays, we have meetings with the league, Hugo DUTREUILH and Christophe with “video cases”, around 8pm, by video conference. Every first Tuesday of the month, a sector meeting, all the referees of Maine-et-Loire in person. Wednesday, nothing! I take the chance to go running, to do some training, but I still play a bit of university rugby, even if I’m leaning towards stopping because of shoulder injuries. Thursday and Friday, the same except that I use them to call the two teams. Otherwise, Friday evening is match preparation. Getting your kit ready the day before, I have my list on my phone and I tick everything off, and then when it’s all done, I untick everything, ready for the next day.”

Then comes the match.  And on Sunday evening, Sacha emails the teams to get the video of the game: “I fill in everything that will be club assessments, expenses forms, so that it’s done! And that way, we can prepare for the following week.”

Does Sacha have time to get any sleep between his studies, his private life and his rugby commitments? “You have to be organised, but yes!”

Any final word? His philosophy of refereeing? Trying to be as least bad as possible? “I wouldn’t really see it like that, we have to try to be as good as possible.”