Rugby sevens will be particularly watched in the coming months, as the Olympics approach. Among the players on the selection, some have a special story.
Rugby sevens has enjoyed new and growing popularity and exposure for some time now. A few months before the Olympic Games, where the discipline has been present since 2016, the enthusiasm is already palpable and the chances of French medals are significant, both for men and women. This media appeal is not unrelated to the announced presence among the Blues of the best rugby player in the world, namely Antoine Dupont.
His presence in the French rugby sevens team at the Vancouver and Los Angeles tournaments, while his teammates from the French XV rowed in the Six Nations Tournament, gave a media spotlight to this more confidential discipline. Especially since the French performed well by winning the tournament in Los Angeles and finishing third in Canada.
But there are other important players in this fine selection of the French VII. Jefferson-Lee Joseph is notably one of the young prospects who count. Born in Guadeloupe, the wing-back was trained as a “quinziste” (also a rugby union player) in Agen, in Lot-et-Garonne. He also chose his jersey number, 47, because of this department. However, the story of Jefferson-Lee Joseph is also linked to music.
He is in fact the son of Jeff Joseph, famous Guadeloupean singer of the group Gramacks. If his name is not necessarily well known in mainland France, Jeff Joseph, who died in 2011, was particularly popular in the West Indies. “When I go back to the West Indies, people talk to me again about my father, about what he did,” explains Jefferson-Lee Joseph. His father also collaborated with the New York funk group “Kool and The Gang” during his solo career.
If Jefferson-Lee Joseph is entirely focused on rugby sevens now, he hopes to return one day to fifteens. He is also still under contract with Agen. “I would like not to lose track and switch again soon, even if I know that there will be a time of adaptation, of course,” explains the player of the France team. An adaptation which could lead to a dream: one day joining the French XV, “the objective of every rugby player” according to him.
Jefferson-Lee Joseph will be present this summer alongside Antoine Dupont for the Olympic tournament, from July 24 to 27. In the meantime, the SVNS Sevens Series international championship continues, with stages in Hong Kong, Singapore and Madrid. They will be an opportunity for the French team to perfect their preparation. Jefferson-Lee Joseph will participate in these three tournaments, notably alongside Stephen Parez and Théo Forner.