Didier CAMBERABERO

Biog of Didier CAMBERABERO :

Camberabero was a player with talent to spare. For example, take the way he took the pass from Philippe Sella at Twickenham on 16 March 1991, and then chipped ahead down the touchline before collecting the ball and kicking in-field for Philippe Saint-André, who gathered and finished off “the try of the century”, a move initiated by Blanco and Berbizier beneath France’s own posts! Didier Camberabero had just participated – and so brilliantly - in one of the most amazing tries ever scored in international rugby. “He had all the individual skills: speed, the kicking game...” remembers Pierre Berbizier, who played with Camberabero for France 13 times, including 9 times together as the starting half-backs. “Cambé” had a lot to live up to. His father, Guy, a fly-half like his son, and his uncle Lilian, were two “Cambés” who had already left their mark on the history of rugby. As a half-back pairing they led La Voulte, a small club, to the French Championship title in 1970 and were part of the first French team to win a Grand Slam (1968).

Berbizier himself admits “Didier was too often compared to his father. He didn’t get a good enough run in the French team to be able to show what he could do and establish himself, so he took a bit of time to find his feet.” The 1987 World Cup helped, although he didn’t play once in his preferred position of fly-half. In the match against Zimbabwe, Camberabero, selected at full-back, scored 30 points, which is still a French international record today. In the process he kicked nine conversions, equalling the record established by his father 20 years earlier against Italy. And then, more significantly, the reorganisation of the team for the semi-final against Australia (fly-half and goal-kicker, Guy Laporte, replaced by Franck Mesnel) saw Camberabero move to the wing and take on the responsibility of goal kicking. It proved to be a good move by coach Jacques Fouroux. Didier Camberabero kicked accurately, scoring 14 points in the historic semi-final victory, and 5 points in the final defeat against the All Blacks.

The yawning four-year gap between Camberabero’s first caps in 1982-1983 and his return in 1987 would finally be forgotten. “Cambé Junior” was regularly picked for les Bleus from then on, although even in this period his place was never guaranteed from one match to the next. Between 1987 and 1991 Camberabero won 28 caps (of his total 36) and then had a last run out in the 1993 Five Nations tournament, amassing a French record 354 points along the way, later to be surpassed by Thierry Lacroix (367, 1997) and Christophe Lamaison (380, 2001).

From La Voulte, his first club, Camberabero moved on to Beziers and then to Grenoble (playing at all three clubs with his brother Gilles, a scrum-half). Camberabero brought an end to his career at the age of 39 following two last seasons at Perpignan, where he experienced the joys of European Cup rugby in 1999 and 2000. Didier Camberabero coached professionally for a year at Racing-Métro in the Pro D2 championship (2006-2007) and is now a freelance kicking coach. He also coaches La Voulte in the Fédérale 2 division and represents Trading Universal (logistics optimisation) in the south of France.