Grandson of Jean-Luc Meiser, great-grandson of Raoul Barrière, Esteban Gonzales-Meiser made his Top 14 debut this season. Back from injury, he has resumed with the hopes since mid-March and has been waiting for his time.
“I like the values of rugby, its mentality, its cohesion, and the team spirit which is very strong”, Smiles Esteban Gonzalez Meiser. The young man is the great-grandson of Raoul Barrière, who gave his name to the ASBH stadium, and the grandson of Jean-Luc Meiser, illustrious third line wing of the “Grand Béziers” at the end of the 1970s.
At 19, the Biterrois made its debut in Top 14 and in the European challenge this season. He plays in Lyon or, which he joined three years ago. “I played a little football, but my whole family made rugby so seeing the photos of my grandfather, I wanted to do it too, indicates the melee half. I started at ASBH at the age six, and I went to Lyon during my second year Crabos (The year of its 15th anniversary). Lyon was a very interesting city for my double project, sport and study. “
“A very respectful boy, attentive”
In addition to its rugby capacities above average, Esteban follows higher education in the Grenoble management school. A remote curriculum, modular for high -level athletes, in order to become a players’ agent. A healthy spirit in a holy body. “He is a very respectful boy, attentive, a real enthusiast of rugby, says Jean-Henri Tubert, Manager of LOU Crabos and Sports Director of Preformation. I spotted it during an internship, and I immediately saw that it was a gaming accelerator, with high speed. He is also a super scorer. I contacted him in the process and he signed in Lyon. “
Not very tall, light enough, that’s what he defines himself: “I am half a melee who likes to energize at the edge of the rucks, good enough at the foot, whether it is to come up or in the game, and I like to defend,” he advances. He is still lucid on his different areas of progression. “I have to learn to communicate better, he continues. Not during the games, where I let go, but further. I also continue to work on my pass and my game at the foot, these are fundamentals that must always be worked. “
-Despite his brief passage, he also left a good memory in his original club. “He is a very technically fine player, who comes up well, says Christophe Chollet, director of the ASBH association. I did not train it but last season, when our hopes lose in the semi-finals against Lyon, he unfortunately evolved under the Lyon colors and had been very good. He left a little early but, who knows, he may find the Red-and-Blue colors. “
“I have to make my hole”
A lucidity he maintains in contact with his grandfather, who does not miss a single games, and with whom he has a privileged relationship. “I am very very close to him, he counts a lot for me, Confie Esteban Gonzales. He inspires me a lot, my dream was also to play the third wing line, like him, but that did not matt with my size (laughs). It is good advice, we debrief the matches together: if he tells me that I have not played well, it is that I was really bad, when he says “it’s okay” is that I made a good match. “
Champion of France Hope accession last season, the young Biterrois is under contract with the Lou until 2027. And, now that he has tasted at the high level, he does not want to stop in such good path. “There are big names at my post so I know that I have to make my hole, he admits. I get along very well with Baptiste Couilloud (the holder at his post, editor’s note) Who is my godfather this season, competition is rather healthy. I would like to chain as many games as possible and put on the ladder, it would not be bad. “
And, even if it likes a lot in Lyon, the original Biterrois does not forget where it comes from: “I have a strong link with the ASBH. It’s my club, where I grew up, even if I wanted to go and see elsewhere. I often watch their matches, several friends with whom I played are today in the pro group, like Antoine Payrastre, Théo Vassallo or Thomas Canaleta.” The young melee half evolves with a red and blue helmet, the colors of the ASBH.
An injury that falls badly
A worker, on the grounds as outside, the young man has seen his patience put to the test in recent weeks … Launched in the deep end with the professionals at the start of the season, he underwent an injury which kept him away from the land for long months. “I had a double fracture of the mandible, he explains. It happened to me in training, on an air duel where I fell on the knee of a teammate. The first weeks were difficult, I had to mix everything I ate. I resumed the race and the contactless rugby for a while then I resumed the competition on March 22, with the hopes. “ An unforeseen event that deprived him of the VI Nations U20 tournament, while he was part of the list of 42 pre -selected.
