The particular story of the French referee who directed Los Pumas and is a fan of Potro Rodrigo

At a hotel table, the referees who WorldRugby nominated for trial matches between The Cougars Y Scotland which culminated on Saturday, having breakfast and chatting in English. Two are French and the third Australian. The mid-morning silence is filtered by the tinkling of the cups and the murmur of those who have just got up a little earlier and have already finished the buffet proposals. Nick Berry chat with French Mathieu Raynal Y Pierre Brousset, Nothing strange. That, up to a song a cappella prevails in the atmosphere.

“He was born in a village, it was God’s desire; To grow and survive humble expression … “. If we’re not mistaken, the Frenchman he directed in Salta is the one who sings the song that Rodrigo recorded as a tribute to Diego Maradona. The cadence is perfect. “Facing adversity, with the desire to earn a living at every step”. It’s Raynal, no doubt about it.

-Excusez-moi Are you singing one of Rodrigo’s?

– The Colt? Yup! Of course? I listen to The Hand of God a lot.

Speak Raynal, main referee of the Salta test match and assistant to Jujuy and Santiago Perfect Spanish and explains to Clarione who, given the proximity of Perpignan – his city – to Spain, learned the language at school. But where does Rodrigo appear? He has never lived in Córdoba or in any other part of Argentina. Plus he doesn’t know what it’s like to be him at a 15th birthday or wedding with a tie on, nor did he suck off. tunga tunga from the cradle then? “Everyone in Perpignan sings the song,” she says.

Raynal has been a referee in seven Los Pumas games (against Australia in 2016; with Ireland and Australia in 2017; with Scotland and New Zealand in 2018, with Romania in 2021 and Scotland this year) and knows several Argentine provinces. But long before that contact with our homeland, I had already had it Foal in your playlist. “Perpignan was champion in 2009”start explaining from the beginning. “That campus had Argentines and they were the ones playing. There was a theme that was always repeated “let go and pause the good stories.

We take the accounts and the memory leads us to Subtle Rimas Álvarez: from Burzaco to Perpignan without stopping. He must be the mind. “No, when I arrived he was already hearing Rodrigo. Who imposed it was Sebastián Bozzi, of Banco Nación, also very much Maradonaian him ”, admits the first Pucara and puts us in touch with the musician.

“If I had been the one to set it up. I ate everyone’s brains in a special moment at the club, before they became champions. I’m sorry I didn’t buy the rights of La Mano de Dios for France, it would have filled me with string “, confirms Bozzi via WhatsApp, from Perpignan, where he assures us that the song is still heard in bars.

“The year I decided to retire, I talked to the leaders and told them we were going to be champions. We traveled all matches by bus and there I put a video of Maradona as a cabal. From there we went to La Rodrigo’s song that came out of the locker room, directly to the stadiums. People adopted it, the CD was kept like gold “, says Bozzi and reveals the origin of everything.

“That song was playing all the time. For the final in Paris they put the song in the stadium: 40 thousand fans already sang it. After he became champion, the party took place in the city: 60,000 people sang it, ”Raynal calculates. “I started paying attention to the lyrics, I understood what he was saying and I never stopped listening to them again,” he boasts.

-Do you still listen to him?

-Sure, I have it in my playlist! At some point it appears, always.

-The most cuartetero of France. What else do you like about Argentina?

-I know many provinces, asado and empanadas. It is a beautiful country, with very different regions. I went to the Bombonera three times, the atmosphere was phenomenal and unique.

– Do you like football then?

-Well yes. I am not a fan. My father, yes, very football fanatic. He took me to see Barcelona and Marseille. One of the times we went to see Barcelona when the game was over and he told me to accompany him on the pitch, he wanted a photo there. We waited for the stadium to empty and went there. But the police took us out, there was no one, there was no longer the public! They did not allow us. In 2016 there was the Top 14 final (between Toulon and Racing 92) and I was the referee. I called my father and said: now let’s take our picture. And we take it off.

Raynal speaks and understands Spanish perfectly. He speaks English without any problems and, of course, French is his primary language. But he has adopted some traits that do not characterize other Frenchmen. “Look how that person drinks soda …”says how someone regrets a situation. “There will be nothing left for Fernet”He lets himself go, laughs and walks away. There is nothing to say, or to sing. He is the French referee, a fan of the Potro Cordobes.