The Premier Sports pundit on how he got into the game of rugby and his love-hate relationship with the Investec Champions Cups
Fromer France international Ben Kayser had a successful career at Stade Français, Leicester Tigers and Clermont winning domestic honours in France and England.
However, the Champions Cup proved an bogey tournament for the hooker who got close to lifting the trophy but ultimately fell short.
Rugby World talks to Kayser about his tough debut under Fabien Galthie, first-half hat-tricks and his love of Christophe Dominici.
What is your first rugby memory?
I first picked up a rugby ball in Hong Kong in 1995. I was a ball boy at the Hong Kong Sevens the year the All Blacks had Jonah Lomu, Eric Rush and Christian Cullen, and France had Olivier Magne and Philippe Bernat-Salles. I didn’t realise how lucky I was at the time.
Read more: France rugby captains
What was your first rugby club?
I played for about seven months in Hong Kong aged 11, but then I stopped because we went to live in Shanghai and Beijing. And then we returned to Paris and my mate asked me to start playing again. His club was Stade Français. I didn’t know who they were at the time but they became my hometown club. I went from youth rugby through to professional there.
Who was your first rugby hero?
I was 15 when France played in the semi-final of the 1999 World Cup against New Zealand. It’s a game my generation is hooked on. In that game was a tiny human called Christophe Dominici who ran around causing havoc. He struck me as someone with unwavering courage.
I was always impressed by courage, not based on size but based on resilience and drive, which he had. He inspired me and I ended up playing with him too. Then Sylvain Marconnet, Pieter de Villiers and Rodrigo Roncero were like older brothers when I played hooker.
French winger Christophe Dominici goes to score as New Zealand captain Taine Randell runs after him (Getty Images)
Do you remember your first game for Stade in the Top 14?
Ah, yes. So my first game, I was on the bench away at Béziers. My eventual rival Dimitri Szarzewski was playing there. There was 20 minutes left and we were 25 points ahead, a dream scenario for a young kid. I messed up everything. First scrum I get popped, I dropped the ball with my first carry, and I misthrow the first lineout to the front into someone’s head.
Fabien Galthié was coach at the time and he said to me, “I really like you but I can’t play you if you will play like this!” I played back at the academy for three more weeks, then came back into the Top 14 and scored a hat-trick in one half against Montpellier!
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Montpellier’s Gregor Townsend kicks the ball despite Stade Francais’ hooker Benjamin Kayser during their French rugby union match Stade Francais vs Montpellier (Getty Images)
And what about your first European game?
That was Cardiff away at the old Arms Park. Julien Arias scored a 70-metre solo try fending off about six people. It was the old pitch before the synthetic pitch. The Champions Cup became my nemesis because we lost the (2005) final in my first season to Toulouse after extra-time. I lost five finals in my career in the end.
First time rugby made you speechless?
You don’t appreciate the atmosphere when you play, you are not a fan. And I sometimes feel that when working on TV too, but France’s recent games at the Stade de France, with the theatre they have, have impressed me. The game in 2021 when Romain Ntamack escaped from his own try-line against the All Blacks made my jaw drop.
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