“I was once rugby tackled outside an airport by Serge Betsen!”: Chef Michel Roux Jr. on his love of rugby

Rugby World: ‘What is the first game you ever watched or played?

Michel Roux Jr.: “I’m 64 so we’re going back in history here! My first rugby memory would have been playing as a kid, I suppose. I played rugby at school, Emanuel in Battersea, throughout my teens. I was useless at football, so I did rugby and cross-country in the winter and cricket in the summer. Then seeing a game, I think it would have been Harlequins as I’ve grown up in South London, so they were my local team and I’ve always followed them.”

Who was your first rugby hero?

“Serge Blanco, without doubt. It was beautiful watching him play, he seemed to glide as opposed to run. He was a legend of a man, a legend of a player – the complete player. Watching him playing for France was always so special; they were the nation of flair. You never knew which France…