Invincible rugby players, undefeated soldiers
There are many parallels between the military world and the world of rugby. I have written a lot on the subject, even in the War College review when I was an intern there in 2020. The sharing of fundamental values, the primacy of the collective over the individual, the analysis of the opponent to determine the tactic to implement, the respect for certain rules or constraints. The semantics are similar: we speak of sacrifice, courage, team spirit, occupation of space, conquests, defeats, and victories. Rugby and the army are, above all, a state of mind, the sharing of a certain vision of the other. Both worlds are defined within an original, codified, hierarchical environment, but it is always friendship that leaves its mark and remains when one leaves either of these worlds. Rugby and the army belong to no one, but those who have lived within them carry with them a small invisible piece that allows us to recognize each other without knowing each other. It is this invisible piece, secretly torn from the military high school in Aix-en-Provence, that undoubtedly makes me feel a kinship with Sébastien, like a brother-in-arms. So, with great pleasure, I will introduce you to his association, Les Invaincus. Through this article, you will discover the origins of this wonderful association, its mission, its ties to rugby, and to Religion Rugby.
Sébastien's Journey and the Birth of Les Invaincus
Sébastien discovered rugby and the army at the same time, a double revelation, at the military high school in Aix-en-Provence. "Learn well to serve better" is the motto of the military high school in Aix-en-Provence, and it was this very desire to serve that motivated Sébastien throughout his professional career. After three years in Aix-en-Provence, he joined the ranks of the National Gendarmerie, where he served for three years. He then joined the Air Parachute Commandos. In 2013, he was seriously injured in service, spending a year in a wheelchair due to multiple fractures, neurological sequelae, and a psychological injury that scarred him for life. Sébastien then learned the hard way about the loneliness of disability and the necessity of resilience.
“I suffered so much, I didn't want others to suffer as much as I did. This phrase became a leitmotif and the driving force behind the creation of his association, Les Invaincus.”
“The culture of silence is such in the armed forces that I didn't want to ask a social worker or any doctor for help. The administrative hassles and the wait for state aid seemed too long and complicated to me.”
The Association's Goals and Actions
Sébastien testifies:
When you're injured, you need humanity, proximity. A wounded brother-in-arms, in my opinion, has a duty to reach out to another wounded brother-in-arms. Values don't need paper or administrative appointments to be applied. The urgency of help has become a duty for me.
In 2015, with a representative from each army and a legionnaire, I created an exchange group so that we could rebuild ourselves together. This exchange group became an association in 2017, Les Invaincus. After six years of existence, we have helped over 500 injured individuals. Our help takes the form of exchanges, phone calls to the injured, weekly visits to hospitals or their homes for the most isolated, the creation of a solidarity cafe, and two annual week-long workshops where we experience powerful moments together to share, fight against loneliness, and move forward.
A special memory
A legionnaire once confessed to me that, without the action of my association, he would have taken his own life. Seriously injured, with an amputated leg, he didn't have the strength to continue the fight. His wife, living in Latin America, couldn't join him, and with a bounty on his head in his home country, he couldn't return to his parents and wife. In his hospital bed, suffering terribly, we magically started small Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fights, because I wanted to show him that he wasn't nothing, that he wasn't just disabled, but that he still had the strength to exist and to fight.
The association mobilized to bring his wife to France. Today, this brother-in-arms is married, a father of two children, and has resumed an almost normal life.
Sébastien's ties with rugby
What are my ties with Rugby? As I said in the introduction, I discovered rugby at the military high school in Aix-en-Provence. I played second row. When I'm in pain and suffering, I think of certain moments I experienced through this incredible sport. I remember my first row, Bertrend and Willy, with whom we would warm up in the changing rooms, motivating each other by head-butting each other a few times. It reminds me of the spark I had deep inside me and that my rugby teammates allowed me to ignite.
“Rugby was that, it was giving a flame to our inner spark.”
A special bond with the French women's military rugby team.
I have forged friendships with quite a few players from the French military rugby team. They are generous, humble, but also strict when it comes to important matters. Together, we created a magnificent calendar and also played a wheelchair rugby match. They played hard against us, as if we weren't disabled. We loved it; rugby has this ability not to judge, to go beyond appearances. We had a great time, and I thank them again for it.
Les Invaincus and Religion Rugby
Religion Rugby is, above all, a passion. Certainly, one of the brand's creators, like me, attended the military high school in Aix-en-Provence, which is not insignificant, but what I love most about Religion Rugby is that the fabric embodies the code of honor of my association. The values we hold in our hearts can also be worn on our skin through Religion Rugby's textiles.
Upcoming Events
In early September, we are organizing a workshop with 12 injured individuals in the southeast of France, in an abbey, where we will spend a week exchanging ideas through discussions and activities, including beekeeping. I invite readers to discover my association through the link below.
https://www.association-invaincus.fr/
Sébastien's Message
I want to tell them the following: “Go further, go beyond values, put these values into action. Wounded soldiers have given a part of their body and soul to France; it seems only right to extend a hand to them.”
https://www.facebook.com/AssociationInvaincuS
