"I am very demanding of myself and of others": the "consuming" ambition of Bernard Lemaitre, president of the RCT

While the players have gone on vacation, and Pierre Mignoni and his staff are wrapping up their last files before taking a few days off, Bernard Lemaitre remains faithful to his post.

From his office at the RCT Campus, where he has a breathtaking view of a training pitch that has been far too empty since the elimination against Bordeaux-Bègles, the Toulon president agreed to meet with us last Thursday.

Disappointed, but still combative, the 86-year-old businessman is already thinking about what's next.

We're back with you five days after your semi-final defeat to Bordeaux. How are you doing?

I took a big blow to the head in Lyon. When you're convinced you'll overcome the obstacle and you see what you saw, you're disappointed. For the players, the staff, the coach, the fans, the club... Afterwards, reason returns. And we tell ourselves that overall we had a rather positive season. There's progress, reasons for satisfaction, and disappointments. But the club has taken another step towards its goal of winning the title.

You would like to skip the stages, but we notice a progression from season to season...

Yes, there is progress, but it's my role to want it to go faster. If a student goes from 10 to 12/20, they've progressed. If, over the course of the year and based on their school report, they could have hoped for a 14, there's a bit of disappointment. So we still have progress to make in certain areas. Let's just say we're constantly improving. But I'm very demanding of myself and others, and I have a burning ambition.

Among the shortcomings, do you think in particular of leadership?

For me, this team has two or three real leaders, but they are too isolated. There is too great a gap between these leaders and the rest of the team... Some can progress in this direction because, for the moment, in critical situations, they are not there. When you have to make decisions, have decisive attitudes and actions, if you are not followed, it becomes complicated.

Do you think the club has progressed since you took over as president?

There is a fundamental difference, which is not at all a criticism, between my predecessor Mourad Boudjellal and me. I have the feeling that he was mainly building a team to win. That was his goal. And it was a noble goal! But I am rebuilding a club. Obviously, it is not the same process. It is slower, it takes time. Sporting results are very important, but they are not the only elements. You have to define a vision, a general objective. And you have to give it the means to achieve its ambitions, that also involves what we have done here (he points to the Campus) . You have to design an organization, correct mistakes. And the ambition must be maintained, the general line too. When I arrived, I said two things: sustainability and training.

That's to say?

I came with the idea that the day I leave, the club will be in a situation where it won't need a "supreme guide" to exist. The shareholder has one main function: to finance. But this role must diminish over time. That is to say, the club must survive initially, then live on its own. Within the parameters that allow it to survive, beyond the economic, there is ultra-competition. We can no longer, as in Mourad's time, go and find players from the four corners of the world. Financially, it doesn't work anymore, because the salary cap is very restrictive, and that's a good thing, by the way! But you can't win a championship, a European Cup, with recruited players alone. So you have to train them.

You are 86 years old. Do you still learn things at 86?

I don't make any judgments about my skills, but I better assess the environment, which is specific. Yes, everything is different in Toulon. I also had to adapt. I've had three coaches, including Collazo and Azéma. You make mistakes, you learn, you have to change. I learned a lot about the club's economic approach. What can and cannot be done. On the sporting level, there are some great satisfactions, like the gradual success of "RCT Passion" and the progress of the first team. A Top 14 semi-final, even if you don't win it, is for me superior to a Challenge Cup victory.

Are you able to appreciate certain moments? To enjoy them?

(He laughs) It's not that I don't have time, it's that time imposes itself on you. Joy, in the position I feel, lasts very little. It lasts one evening. The next day, we're on the phone with the staff, we analyze and we plan ahead. Because that's the pace imposed by the Top 14 combined with the European Cup.

Since taking over as club president on February 11, 2020, you've said you want to balance the books so you don't have to fill gaps at the end of each season. Where are you at?

We're not there yet. We're making progress. But the progress isn't fast enough for my liking. The goal is to break even within three years. So we have three seasons to get significantly closer to that point. Without giving up on our ambitions. Getting back to balance isn't complicated: we have to spend less, or at least not more, and count the revenue. We have enormous scope for development, while knowing that in any rugby club, there's a glass ceiling. In terms of ticket sales, for example, with a specific number of spectators, and the price of tickets that I don't want to play with. So, what can improve is merchandising.

What does it represent today?

It was 6 million in revenue per year during RCT's glory days in 2014. Today, we're at 2.5 million, knowing that when I arrived, the club was at 0.9 million. So, we're making progress. That's good, but we need to go much further. We need to do merchandising in a way other than just stores. The other areas where we can make progress are areas where there are natural limits. Well, I was talking about hospitality: compared to the Top 14 standard, we're 10 million short, which corresponds to the club's losses. Then there's ticketing, where we know the margin is high. Or merchandising, where we have a margin of only 30%. Each sector has its own production capacity. Where we literally need to leap forward is in the area of ​​sponsorship.

Exactly, how do you explain that Toulon played the entire season without a shirt sponsor (the loss of earnings would be more than a million euros)?

Well, there you have it! I'm asking myself the same question. When a jersey sponsor leaves you, you feel like an idiot if you didn't anticipate it.

Will Toulon have one next season?

We're working on it. I hope so. We need to change our approach.