Sportsmen speak

Athleticism and its values are very important within Bouygues Construction. This deep commitment of the company drives top athletes to juggle work life and sport. Discover the portraits of those employees whose tenacity deserves our respect. First interview with Guillaume Delmas, buyer and international rugby player in the Slovenian team.

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What spurred your passion for rugby and how long have you been playing this sport?

This passion was inherited from my family. My grandfather, my uncles, my father, my sister, and virtually everyone played it and this certainly spurred me on from a very early age. I also grew up in the Hautes-Pyrénées, where rugby is the most popular sport. I started rugby at the age of seven, at the Bagnérais stadium, Fédérale 1 club, which I left to come and work for Bouygues Construction. Since then, I have always played rugby for various teams and countries depending on my education and career. I got my first cap for the national team of Slovenia in May 2014, thanks to the World Rugby rules that allowed players to represent the country of your parents or grandparents, as my grandmother is Slovenian.

How do you reconcile your sport and professional career?

I still play club rugby at USOMC, a central Paris club, with which I have two practices a week, quite late compared to other clubs in the Paris region (8 pm) and a match at the weekend, which avoids encroaching on my professional life. It is also a club of friends with whom it is nice to meet up after a busy week. The Challenger gym helps work on the physical aspect at the same time. As for the selections with Slovenia, I have to be there with the team on the Monday before a match in the absolute, for an intense week with long rugby sessions every day leading up to Saturday’s game.

What are your next goals?

Following a fractured malleolus at the end of 2014, I had a season off and I returned to rugby last September. I am counting on the summer to focus on physical preparation, as the next international matches are in November and the aim, with my club, is to get up to the Federal division. Slovenian ambitions will also clearly be to progress, after a recent defeat against Luxembourg. That match was the opportunity to rise to the highest European amateur level, which is what we will try to achieve next year after recently completing a strong two-year cycle (six wins and two losses). So I still aim to be selected for this team and to give my all to keep on a roll and capitalise on our good previous results.

Find out about the previous interviews of Ludivine, Qwan Ki Do champion, and Dan, Kick-boxing champion.