ÉMILIEN GAILLETON

The top try-scorer in the Top 14, from centre, at Pau - and he's still just 19!

- Alan Dymock

IN FRANCE, the path to the Top 14 starts not in schools but in the club game. And it demands big decisions, early. Take Émilien Gailleton. The teenage centre has been blowing the bloody doors off at Pau this year, but back when he was 13 he was striking out on his own, leaving home early to play junior rugby in Agen, away from family and the village he grew up in.

“In England you have rugby related to schools,” says the Top 14’s top try-scorer for the 2022-23 season. “In France it’s different because we have all these clubs, and when you’re little and you’re quite good, they’re going to put you in certain teams. So I had to move from my parents.

“I grew up in the countryside, in this village of 160 people. I loved it, but for rugby I had to go to a bigger place. I grew up around one hour north of Toulouse, and I then went out to Agen.”

Think making big decisions is beyond most teenagers? After a few minutes of dialogue with Gailleton, it’s clear he’s not most teenagers. Assured, calm, there is an obvious direction of travel. For a lot of this year, on the field that was towards enemy try-lines. But for him to even be at Pau is interesting enough.