Tulzin Stadium: the secrets of young coach Jerome Kaino before France / New Zealand

Everyone knows Jerome Keanu the player, is Jerome Keanu the coach a different person?

(He laughs) No, I am the same person. I try to have the same attitude when I was a player. I still have this desire to learn and we can say that I have learned a lot in the past four months. The mindset remains the same: getting better every day.

Does your experience as a player help you in your daily training?

certainly. The experience I gained as a player gives me an interesting perspective when analyzing the match. And then, the vast majority of Stade Toulousain coaches have been gamers as well and this allows them to get a very informed opinion about which game to put in place. Personally, it helps me a lot because I was still a player last year, so it’s very recent. I can still feel what the players feel.

Can you tell us how a normal day goes by, when we are on the staff side?

For my part, my job is to focus on young players. Be it aspiring players but also young players who have been integrated into the first team so that they can progress. To improve their gameplay, vision, and attributes required for high-level rugby at Toulouse Stadium. This is really my main concern. Attend as many sessions as possible led by other coaches to learn as much as possible. In particular with Jean Poelhau, Virgil Lacombe and of course Ugo (Mola) and Lulu (Laurent Toure). They have a lot of comments for me, which I think allow me to improve every day.

“I don’t miss the pain of the repercussions of the matches”

Four months after the end of your career, wouldn’t you miss being at the center of the battle on the ground?

If you really miss her (smiling). The way you prepare for the match, that feeling before you even hit the pitch… these are things that are missing. On the other hand, what I don’t miss is the day after the match…when I was in pain all over, I suffered after matches (He laughs).

Having said that, sometimes you put the cleats back on to play sparring partners during training…

(He laughs) Ah yes that is true. It doesn’t happen often. In this case that week (before the meeting against Perpignan, editor’s note) we had a large number of injuries or were selected from among the attackers. We had to make the number so I stuck to it for practice. It feels good but I did feel a little rusty. I think I need to warm up a little longer (smiling).

In your personal life, has becoming a coach changed a lot of things?

It didn’t really affect my family life. I still spend a lot of time with my loved ones. Ugo is a good manager. He makes sure we work hard during the week but also spend enough time with our families, so it’s balanced.

You were so close to many of your teammates when you were a player, has your relationship with them changed since you moved to The Other Side?

of course not. I made sure when I became a coach that I would maintain the same relationships and friendships that I had in the locker room. My attitude obviously changed when we were in training during the week, and I have to maintain a training mentality. But I maintained the same behavior that I had as a player. I respect all of them greatly. I didn’t want them to change their attitude towards me either.

So, do you still meet each other outside of “office hours” like in previous years?

Yes, of course. We continue to organize good meals together.