The voice of Émile Ntamack, serious, solemn, recites the last lines of the famous poem by Rudyard Kipling, then it is joined by that of Romain, his son, for a few words articulated together. The last ones. “You will be a man, my son. » A conclusion by way of invitation. The signature and title of a documentary, broadcast on Canal + this Sunday evening (9 p.m.), dedicated to the opener of the Stade Toulouse and the XV of France (43 selections) and directed by Charlène Ravin and Benoît Pensivy. The fruit of two years of work full of testimonies and archive images.
This dive into the life of Romain Ntamack reveals behind the scenes, far from the smooth image projected by the young man of 26, star of his sport programmed to shine. A modest, reserved and suspicious young man who speaks with rare words and looks that say a lot about the heritage he carries every time he puts on a jersey.
Trying to understand Romain Ntamack means first discovering a family saga that dates back to the arrival of his grandfather Émile in France at the age of 19 from Cameroon, the home founded near Lyon with his grandmother Ernestine, a pied-noir from Algeria, and their three sons, Georges, Francis and Émile. A professor grandfather, who worked hard and instilled in his sons the standards that always guided him.
“When you see him making these gestures that you did as a parent…”
“It was better to be first,” says Émile, Romain’s father. A first separation, the move of Ernestine and her sons to Toulouse, so that Émile can best express his talent as a rugby player… Life unfolds in fast motion. Generations follow one another. Émile meets Marie. Romain was born first, followed three years later by his brother Théo. The oval ball is at the center of everything.
A planned climb for Romain, gifted and outperforming others from his young years? A road to the summits of which we can then distinguish, throughout this restrained documentary, the joys, the dizziness, the doubts and the cracks. The child becomes a man consumed by rugby, sometimes obsessed, gritting his teeth to overcome his injuries. Dan Carter and Jonny Wilkinson, the legends step in to illuminate his steps into the light. Thierry Dusautoir and Ugo Mola give their vision of the champion. Lisa Lopez entered Romain’s life.
The year 2023 arrives. A summary in a few months of a career also marked by hard knocks. At the end of June, he scored a historic try, offering the Brennus shield at Stade Toulouse against La Rochelle after having screwed up several times during the match. His tears, at the final whistle, surprised even his mother. “Before that night, I had never seen him cry,” she said.
A few weeks later, there was a cold shower against Scotland, during a World Cup preparation match with his rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. It’s Romain who consoles Émile. A modest father too, but admiring. A father who watches with tenderness, nostalgia and wonder as his son takes his newborn, Noah, in his arms, who arrived in July 2024. “When you see him make these gestures that you did as a parent, you tell yourself that the wheel has turned. Where does this transmission stop? It’s just a continuation in the end. » A lineage. A life that passes through a touching documentary.
