Sports
IT is a phrase that Aaron Grandidier Nkanang admits is difficult to translate for his France Sevens team-mates.
“Just different gravy,” he says.
“Running out on to the pitch for the first game, looking up at a packed Stade de France, 70,000 people. I had goosebumps. It was unbelievable.”
Three days later though, come the Paris 2024 gold-medal match, the 24-year-old Londoner found exactly the right words.
He regathered Fiji’s kick-off, flicked the ball into Antoine Dupont’s hands and, 10 seconds later, took a return pass to plunge over the line for a pivotal try.
As he was engulfed by team-mates, he pointed down at the turf and yelled into the crowd.
“I was literally saying: ‘C’est maintenant!’ Which means: ‘It’s now!'”
“I was just hyped, you don’t think, that stuff just comes out.”
And it came out perfectly.
France had seized the moment, the momentum and the medal. Grandidier Nkanang, Dupont and their team, one which had failed to even qualify for Tokyo, had won the hosts’ first gold of the Games.
For Grandidier Nkanang, the long road to the city of lights started on Turnpike Lane.
It was there, in Haringey, north London, that his British-Nigerian father Nick Nkanang and his French mother Estelle Grandidier met in the early 1990s.
By the time Aaron was born, five months into a new millennium, they had moved south of the river, but London was always home.
Rugby wasn’t on the radar: Grandidier Nkanang’s father was into cycling and martial arts, while his mother did yoga.
And Aaron wasn’t on rugby’s radar.
He first touched the oval ball aged 11, when he started at a local grammar school and found it the dominant sport.
Left behind by his class-mates’ growth spurts and struggling to get to grips with the rules, he then stopped playing for two years. He missed another season through injury, reverting back to his first love of basketball.
It was only at the age of 16 – a point where other prospects are already locked into pathways and professional clubs – that he started to take it seriously, finding he had caught up physically and his time on court had sharpened his footwork and handling.
He rose fast and steep – acing trials for Kent, London and the South East and England Counties – excelling at every level.
“I always knew I wanted to be a sportsman,” says Grandidier Nkanang.
“I loved competing and the idea of the lifestyle, and I just locked on to rugby as my route.”
Until the route ran into a dead end.
“I scored two tries in a win over Ireland Schools and Clubs and the England Counties coaches said there were people watching the game.
“I really hoped I was going to get some traction, but there was nothing.
“I heard London Scottish might be interested, Leicester Tigers – but it ended up being just rumours and echoes.”
After a year at university, Grandidier Nkanang took matters into his own hands. He contacted a rugby agent, showed them his showreel and his French passport and asked them to make enquiries.
He got more than echoes back. He visited Brive, Toulon, Castres and Oyonnax. He signed with Brive, mentioned his Sevens experience and the French selectors were soon on the phone.
His most famous Paris 2024 team-mate was the last into the squad. Dupont, France’s quicksilver 15-a-side captain, surprised the rugby world when he swapped the 2024 Six Nations for a shot at seven-a-side Olympic glory.
He continued to surprise when he arrived with France Sevens.
“He was always going to be a beast, I never had any doubts,” reflects Grandidier Nkanang.
“I thought it was going to take him quite a bit longer though. But he was unreal straight away.
“He came in with so much respect for us and the discipline itself, which we really appreciated.
“He took a back seat, asking questions, learning, watching and talking. Even before joining us physically he had been watching video footage and learning the play calls.
“It was a real testament to the kind of player and bloke he is.”
Now, it is Grandidier Nkanang’s turn to impress in a new environment. He is back in the 15-a-side game having signed with Top 14 side Pau, where former Exeter pair Joe Simmonds and Harry Williams and former England scrum-half Dan Robson also ply their trade.
“There are a lot of little habits from Sevens that I need to iron out the game, it is going to be a big learning curve to get to that level,” he says.
“The biggest thing for me is timing my run in attack and, on the other side of the ball, defending a zone rather than man to man, particularly when there is a lot more movement in front of you.”
If he can get it right, his aim is to pick up a 15-a-side cap to go with his seven-a-side neckwear.
At the Olympics, he wore boots bearing the crests of his old school, St Olaves, and his former English club, Old Elthamians.
But there is no doubt about the colour of shirt he is aiming for.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t want to play for England anymore,” he says.
“I do feel a lot of attachment to England – my family and friends are there, I grew up there so I still have a lot of love for it. But France has given me everything professionally.
“My next ambition is to be capped in 15s. It would be a hell of a journey, but that is definitely the next objective.
“I would be disappointed in myself if, after all of this, I went to play for England. That wouldn’t be a good thing to do, for me, it is not really ethical.”
Like some of his slang, some things are impossible for Grandidier Nkanang to switch.
– BBCSport
A.I
Sept. 18, 2024
Tags: Aaron Grandidier Nkanang
