Raphael IBANEZ

Biog of Raphael IBANEZ :

On 22 November 1997, the bullocking charge of the compact number 19 may just have given the French rugby public a glimmer of hope. Certainly not for victory – the match would go down in history as a disaster for the French team – but for the future. In front of the unbelieving eyes of the Parc des Princes crowd, where les Bleus were playing for the last time, Raphael Ibanez scored France’s only try bringing the final score to 52-10 in South Africa’s favour, at that time the heaviest defeat in the nation’s history. Ibanez had come off the bench. The 24 year-old from Dax was bursting with energy, his blue eyes gazing far off into the distance…

Although perhaps not as far as his 98 caps (41 as captain - second French most capped as captain), or as far as 2007 (his third World Cup). On that day in November 1997, it was obvious Ibanez possessed the right temperament, but only the selector, Jean Claude Skrela, sensed that he had found in this hooker his spearhead for the years to come. One month later they met in secret: “I found him single-minded, full of character. It was clear he could speak frankly and still be part of the group, being a real team man. When I left him I knew my search for the next French captain was over.”* And so Ibanez was made captain for his sixth selection, a tricky 1998 Five Nations opener against England, the first match to be played by les Bleus at the Stade de France. A victory, followed by three more wins gave France the Grand Slam. It was an auspicious start for the captain.

But destiny had some twists in store, making his career, as he himself admits “cyclical with some difficult moments”: the heavy defeat in New Zealand in June 1999 resulting in another unwanted record (54-7); the World Cup exploit against the same All Blacks team four months later at Twickenham; dropped from the team in 2000-2001; more lows than highs at club level (Perpignan, Castres); his first comeback, as a simple team member this time, for the 2002 Grand Slam, the first of the Six Nations era; and the 2003 World Cup, so full of promise, brought to a premature end by the boot of the Englishman, Wilkinson, in the semi-final.

The disappointment left him battered and exhausted. “Playing at the highest level can take everything out of you” he later confided. He was 30 years old with 72 caps and chose to cross the Channel to finish his career, out of sight and mind of the national set-up. It was to be another dark passage, a long one this time, one that was to last for two years. Could Ibanez contain his simmering temperament for much longer? In 2005 he found an outlet for his re-kindled ambition at London Wasps, finally tasting success at club level winning the 2007 European Cup and the 2008 Championship (as captain). In 2006 he won back his place in the French team as well, before becoming captain again in 2007 for another World Cup turn up for the books against New Zealand, this time in the quarterfinal. History didn’t grant Ibanez the ultimate prize, however. IbanezHe brought the curtain down on his international career after an unsuccessful finale against Argentina following yet another semi-final defeat at the hands of the English.

Raphael Ibanez, the most-capped hooker in the world, hung up his boots once and for all in February 2009, following a series of concussions. Today he is a rugby pundit for France Television and a policy consultant for Roselyne Bachelot, the Sports Minister.

* Le Tournant du jeu, Grasset, p. 207