The builder Bernard Jackman

Midi Olympique has drawn the portrait of Bernard Jackman. The Irish coach particularly talked about his grandfather, who like many Irish emigrated in order to support his family: "My grandfather was on this site (Rockefeller Center). Having Lunch atop a Skyscraper shot under me stimuate me. It is there to remind me that I must not leave here without having succeeded. I had never spoken before, but this is one of my primary motivations. In my family, there has always been migrants: my grandfather, my uncles traveled to improve their quality of life, because Ireland then was very poor. Strangely, they all worked in the building industry. So even if I am not here for the money, I also want to register in their heritage and build something. My goal is to grow even more this club. And there is everything in Grenoble to achieve it. "

He became a rugby player, but Bernard Jackman might as well have embraced a different career: "My father was a beef dealer. At home, we raised cattle my father bought and resold in the markets, or destined for the slaughterhouse. Since I was the eldest, I worked on the farm, while my father was in the markets, I fed and looked after the animals, sometimes I did the markets on my side. And I loved it ... The problem is that my mother feared that by embracing the career of my father, I get stuck here all my life! When I was 12, they had me enrolled in a boarding school in Newbridge. I only went home one weekend per month, which forced me to do my homework. And above all, I discovered rugby, I did not practice before ... "

Student in international marketing and in Japanese, Bernard Jackman got his diplomas, but a phone call have changed everything: "Along with the university, I was enrolled at Lansdowne Club, where I had made good progress. To the point that one day when I was embarking on a trip to Japan as part of my studies, Warren Gatland contacted me to become a professional player in Connacht. I had never known youth teams, rugby juste became professional in Ireland ... I jumped at the chance. "

His rugby career will make an allusion to his studies: "I won my first cap with Ireland. And it was to face Japan in Osaka! On the ground, I understood what our opponents were saying, I was translating their calls in line-out, sometimes I answered them. The Japanese did not understand what was happening! But today, I would have to resume classes to speak properly. To be honest, I even thought to go there to coach. But then, the opportunity arose Grenoble ... "

Become a coach has quickly become a vocation for the former player of Leinster: "I started training at age 23 in a small club. When my playing career ended, I had trained for 11 years! It was obvious for me to continue on this path. I kept all my training notebooks from the beginning of my career. Those before 2008 remained in Ireland, but I took all others in Grenoble ... For me, coaching is a mixture of science and art, because you have to plan everything, yet always adapat yourself. The greatest artists have all worked hard, fumbled, before mastering their art. Michelangelo did not start with the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel! I'm not talented enough to venture into art, but I want to draw inspiration from this approach in my job. And my job is rugby. "