IT’S RUGBY. – Since the announcement that you were retiring, what has been happening to you?
VALENTIN SAURS: It is a big blow to the back of the head. It is not what I was hoping for. I wanted a different ending. Even so, I am starting to take a bit of a step back. Cutting everything off all at once feels strange. In the first weeks and the first months, grieving for rugby is hard. That is where I am at the moment. I am mainly thinking about setting myself new goals for life after rugby and going back to studying.

In concrete terms, what exactly is your injury?
It is a deterioration of one knee. My first injury dates back a year and a half. The two operations were eight months apart. It is now almost two years that I have not been able to get out of it. Bits kept coming loose in my knee as soon as I started up again.

Was it the surgeon who told you to stop?
It was more of a joint decision. We asked ourselves what the best solution was at that moment. But when someone talks to you about a possible knee replacement at 50 if I carry on playing rugby… You cannot know whether or not it will keep getting worse. In fact, nobody knows. I have had three or four viscosupplementation treatments (hyaluronic acid injections, ed.), one PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma, also given by injection, ed.), two operations and for eight months I have had very little progress with my knee, with recurring pain. Taking stock of all that, you can say it was the best choice.

Talk us through how your injuries developed…
After my first operation, I felt good. In fact, I had come back at the end of last season. I had even been able to play in the play-offs. I did not feel 100 % either but I had good sensations. Except that during a pre-season friendly, and with fatigue, I suffered a relapse. Another piece came away. The result was another operation. This time everything was different. I did not have anything like the same sensations as after the first operation. At the start it was progressing well. Then since January it has stalled. I am still doing running in a straight line, with regular pain. I cannot do any running with changes of direction. In rugby, if you do not have that, you cannot do anything. I am still a long way off.

Talking to the surgeon and asking him whether I would one day be able to run again without pain, he told me that was the objective. As answers go, it is fairly abstract. But I understand him too, he does not have a crystal ball

What is the next step? Do you have to go back on the operating table?
No. The surgeon told me I had to lead a slightly more ordinary life, without too much strain on the knee. That will take the load off it, rest it and reduce the pain as much as possible. Then again, sometimes I do nothing at all. I am in my bed or on the sofa and I have pain. It is not severe pain but I feel it.

At what moment did you decide to stop?
At my last appointment with the surgeon after another MRI scan. You could still see a sizeable bone bruise in one spot. Talking to him and asking whether I would one day be able to run again without pain, he told me that was the objective. As answers go, it is fairly abstract. But I understand him too, he does not have a crystal ball. Except that it does not give me any kind of timescale to aim for.

Are you in pain in everyday life? Do your injuries get in the way of daily things like doing the shopping?
Not really for carrying the shopping. But with everyday movements, yes. All of a sudden it goes “clunk” as if something had slipped in the knee. But in any case, yes, I can feel that my knee is different and is not the same as before. When I bend down, on squatting movements, it hurts too.

You are going to have to go back to studying… Do you already have ideas about what you are going to do?
I was thinking hard about what might interest me in the future. I already have two degrees in sports science but my profile ultimately fits with studying physiotherapy. That does mean going back to school though… I have four years of study ahead of me.

Ever since I arrived at the club, I have felt an enormous amount of goodwill and I still feel it. The sporting staff, the medical staff and even the president... Everyone listens and supports me as best they can. I thank them for it. These past months have not been at all easy mentally. But I have always felt supported by the club

You are still under contract with Colomiers. We imagine the club is by your side through this ordeal…
Yes, clearly. Ever since I arrived at the club, I have felt an enormous amount of goodwill and I still feel it. The sporting staff, the medical staff and even the president… Everyone listens and supports me as best they can. I thank them for it. These past months have not been at all easy mentally. But I have always felt supported by the club.

Has the Provale union taken things in hand to support you?
Yes, particularly on the studies side. They have helped me quite a lot, especially when I had questions to ask. Then again, unfortunately, they do not have much leverage on the choice I am making, which is to go into physiotherapy. They carry a huge amount of weight in plenty of professional and academic sectors but not in physiotherapy. It is a shame but they are still there to listen.

Family and friends are important too…
Yes, clearly. Even if I try not to weigh too heavily on the people around me. Unfortunately, it is hard not to grumble when you are hurting like that every day. Not being able to contribute to the team’s good results does not help either, that is for sure. They have had superb results for two years. I want to be part of the party. It is really very frustrating. Then there is the injury side and above all having a knee that hurts all the time. In the first months, I lived it like a rollercoaster. It is very important to be well supported. Above all by your family and friends.

You had a fine career and played in the Top 14. Do you have one memory that stands out in particular?
I cannot name one memory in particular. If I look back over everything I have experienced, it is the whole of it. In the youth age groups already, it was incredible. We lived through crazy things. Then, inevitably, the first matches with the professionals. I experienced promotion to the Top 14 and relegation to Pro D2 with Agen. There were some very difficult moments. I remember my last year at Agen where we had not won a match for almost a year. Then I turn up at Colomiers and we win our first match straight away at Oyonnax. And then all those superb years at Colomiers… I found the enjoyment of playing rugby again, I got my confidence back.