2023-10-08 08:00:00
In August, during the preparatory matches of the XV of France in Saint-Étienne and Nantes, the scene surprised Julien Millereux.
“The spectators chanted “Isabelle, Isabelle” as soon as she appeared in the stadium, rewinds the TF1 sports director. Children, parents, grandmothers… I realized how popular she was among rugby fans. »
At the dawn of the World Cup, the challenge was quite different for the former presenter of the Canal Rugby Club : establishing itself beyond the microcosm of the Ovalie by managing to bring together purists and tourists.
“On TF1, we talk to people who have sometimes never seen a minute of rugby in their lives, confides Isabelle Ithurburu. Everything must be popularized, because the rules are much more complicated than in football. »
On September 8, nearly 10 million viewers attended her induction during the opening ceremony, alongside Anne-Claire Coudray. That same evening, just following France – New Zealand, his Rugby World Cup Mag – a live debrief with in-house consultants – was followed by 3.5 million viewers. Friday, following France-Italy, there were 2.9 million there.
“I see the impact in the street, at my daughter’s nursery school, and even in the theater”
An XXL exhibition of which she is already seeing the benefits:
“I see it in the street, at my daughter’s nursery school, and even at the theater, she laughs. Last week, I was sitting not far from Pascal Légitimus, whom I had never met. He mimed a rugby pass while telling me that he loved the Mag. It touched me a lot. »
The girl from Pau was, however, far from imagining such a cathodic destiny. It was in the family apartment, above the grocery store run by his parents, that his passion for rugby was born: “My dad, who worked seven days a week, would come up when there was an important match on TV, which allowed me to spend time with him. »
After studying international business, his life changed one night in 2008, as Nicolas Bert, at the time general manager of the Infosport channel, recounts:
“A friend told me that he had met a girl who was crazy regarding rugby in the evening. I was looking for new faces. We met. The beginnings were incredible, because the Canal+ sports department refused at the time to hire journalists who did not graduate from a school. The first few weeks, I gave her my badge so she might sneak into the editorial office and learn the basics, like how to edit a story. But once on the air [en 2009], she got the entire hierarchy to agree. »
Not without having to face resistance from certain colleagues.
“In the rugby department, there was a lot of testosterone, remembers Nicolas Bert. Some have caused him misery. »
With hindsight, Isabelle Ithurburu explains this attitude by “fear of change” :
“I was shaking up the codes. It’s different today. In football, Nathalie Iannetta was a model for us. Now, there are women who “wear” a sport, like Marion Rousse with cycling on France Télévisions. »
Progress that producer Laurence Bachman, president of the association For Women in the Media, considers still too timid: ” We must go further. » Already approached twice in the past by TF1, Isabelle Ithurburu, 40, ended up saying yes last spring.
“I accepted because I was offered the chance to host the magazine 50′ Inside in addition to rugby. But I cried a lot, it’s difficult to leave a group you love. »
According to one of his former colleagues, the directors of Canal+ “accused the blow” but remained ” very classy “. In 2024, Denis Brogniart will regain control of the Mag during the Euro football tournament in Germany, and Isabelle Ithurburu’s future will be written more in the field of magazines and entertainment.
“It’s obvious that TF1 will soon entrust him with new shows,” predicts a chain pattern. ■
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