Toulouse won 25 of the 28 games they played last year as they earned promotion to the Championship. Sylvain Houles’ next ambition is to reach Super League

Newly promoted Toulouse Olympique kicked off the Championship season on Saturday by thrashing last season’s top-four contenders Batley 44-6 in southern France. Head coach Sylvain Houles, the former France, Wakefield and London Broncos winger, has overseen three seasons of relentless success at the club, proving that he is one of the most impressive young coaches in the game. We sat down for a chat to look back on the win over Batley, how his young team developed last season and his career as a player, manager – and farmer.

You must be delighted with the first result, beating Batley convincingly. How did it compare to what you expected?

Yes, it was very pleasing. After all the hard work during the pre-season, and the Catalan game [a friendly Toulouse won] I knew we were in a good place, but I also knew that Batley would come and challenge us. They’re a good team, who finished third last year. I thought it would be a closer game, but we played some really smart rugby. I was delighted with our performance. We just need to build on that win now.

How did it feel finally watching Toulouse Olympique playing at Blagnac in the Championship?

It was great to bring the Championship back to Toulouse. I played in the Championship with Toulouse as a player and loved every minute of it. It’s fantastic to be part of it as a coach. After the game we had some really good feedback from the supporters, so hopefully this is just the start of things for Toulouse.

Looking back, how do you assess 2016, when Toulouse won 25 of their 28 games in all competitions?

It was a really interesting year for us, building a team and building as a club. I was really happy with how we did it. It’s hard to say what we expected or wanted but it was excellent. It has been a very good learning curve and despite the results it was a tough competition. There are some very good teams. A lot of people in France, because of the scoring line, say that League 1 is no better than our French Championship but I would disagree with that. All the top teams, especially those in the play-offs, would make the top of the French competition. For us to have those scorelines shows the progression and development of our boys from the year before.

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You’ve only signed one player – Stanislas Robin from Catalans – and go into the Championship with most of the team who won the French league for you three years ago.

Since I took the team we’ve kept 80% of the players. The average age of the team is 23. We believe in those players. As long as they want to learn, we need to feed them. The day we stop feeding them we will regress, not progress. They are really hungry. They always ask for more, which is tough for us. They push the coaches and we have to learn new theories and new things. We want to be a smart team. They are tremendous for me. There are leaders. They read books about sports science, they are really passionate about rugby league and the project, so we involve them as much as we can. We work together.

Have you had to let some players go now you have made the step up to the Championship?

Yes. That’s the only thing for me. We sit individually and I tell players: ‘You have to develop this and that or else it is going to be hard for you at the next level,’ and he doesn’t really understand it and he doesn’t want it. That’s where I will make that decision to not sign him. And I’ve had a couple. I have a player whose defence is not good enough and we’ve worked hard with him, but he’s 28 and I’m not going to change him.

You have worked with most of these players for years. How long have you been building a team for the Championship?

We’ve been preparing this project for the last three years. All the time the question being asked about players is: ‘Is he going to be Super League standard?’ We are always looking at that. We have to work the finance, but that is our aim. My boss didn’t want to go in League 1, he wanted to go straight into the Championship but I said it was great preparation, a very long pre-season. We have learned so much as an organisation.

Some fans thought you had an unfair advantage, being a full-time team in League 1. Can you clarify that?

Last year we were not full-time. Everyone says we were, but we were not. We managed because I asked each individual if they could do the physical training between 12pm and 2pm because in France that is your lunch break. I was surprised but all of them said ‘yes’. The only one who struggled was Danny Hulme, who has a really good job at Airbus. In terms of recovery and family life it was much better than training at night. The Aussies are full-time; they do gym from 10am to 11am. The ones who work take an extra hour and do it from 11am and we go on the field from 12pm until 2pm. In summer it is not as hot then as in the early evening, either. We have a lot of students too, and they managed to arrange their hours of studying because they are playing at a high level of sport.

Are the coaching staff full-time?

I consider myself full-time at the club but I have a farm, too, one hour away in Albi. We have a sheep farm to produce sheep milk for Roquefort cheese. They make good milk and good cheese. Every morning I get up and work until 10am. Then I spend all my day at the club. Our fitness coach Adam [Innes, a Toulouse player last time they were in the Championship], is full-time and my assistant is part-time. It’s not ideal but we make it the best it can be for us. We are still a long way from where we want to be but we want to keep winning, keep building the club.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sylvain Houles with his team. Photograph: Remy Gabalda/AFP/Getty Images

What do you make of Toronto Wolfpack? They must have been inspired by your success last year?

When you see the players they have signed, they are not too bad! It will be interesting. But they are going to be based [near] Leeds so what are they? An English team backed by Canadian money? But having said that, if they want something, the Americans or Canadians often get it. If they are bringing in money, we can’t complain. We whinge too much in rugby league. We should be pleased if people want to bring millions of dollars into our game. I think, why not? The Toronto games will be on TV and they are bringing cash in. They are doing it differently to us but we don’t have the cash. Toulouse is a big city but our budget is tight. Our players are doing a terrific job and I wish we could pay them more. We need to aim for the top four and get the money from the RFL, and the club need to develop a bigger commercial operation around marketing our games.

In the last decade the French league has lost Catalans, Pia Donkeys and Toulouse – three of the best teams and two of the biggest clubs. What does the future hold for Elite 1?

It is a very tough one. I have to be honest: if we hadn’t come to the English league, I don’t know what I would have done. We won the league the last two years, and the cup, and I needed a new challenge. So I was thinking: ‘Can we win the cup with just a young team of French players, like our Broncos team?’ That would have been a challenge for me, something like that. A lot of Elite teams are full of youngsters as there’s not much money anymore. There are hardly any foreigners, which is, at the moment, bringing the level a little bit down. But if they are smart – and there are some good coaches in France – the conclusion will be interesting in a few years.

Toulouse and Catalans are producing players: the side you picked on Saturday had 10 French players, three of whom were products of your academy.

There are some good youngsters coming up. We weren’t happy with our reserves last year, as they really struggled, so this year we invested more, especially in the staff, as they needed the tools to develop. Most of the teams are doing this.

A lot of French players are now moving to English clubs. Are Toulouse now a potential destination for top French players?

Yes, definitely, we become a possibility for them. The Championship is a very, very tough competition. Look at Catalans. If you look after 10 years, how many players went straight from the Elite into Super League? Zero, or very few. Elite 1 doesn’t create Super League players. For us that is a tough one. We think the place to create Super League players is the Championship.

How did you end up playing in Super League in England at the age of 18?

I always loved rugby, was always passionate. I was driven by that: I wanted to play in England, that is all. I came from a small farm in France: my brother has never taken a plane! We didn’t know anything about professional rugby back home. So I just wanted to be out there playing. I played for France, aged 18, against England, twice - home and away - when John Kear was the coach. I had two good games. I said to the only French agent there was at the time: ‘I want to play in England’. He asked John if he was interested and he said ‘Yes, send him to me straightaway’. John was coach of Huddersfield-Sheffield, when they merged, so that’s how I ended up there. I played four reserve games and the fifth week I started in Super League, at 18! It was unbelievable.

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When did you feel you wanted to become a coach?

I always had big admiration for coaches. I always had a buy-in to them, listened to them, I wanted to learn. It was just a shame that I didn’t have a coach who really believed in me as a player. It makes such a massive difference. I was so much passionate. I am happy with what I have done but I know that I could have been ten times a better player if I had a coach who had given me all the tools to push myself. I will never make that mistake myself as a coach. The guy who doesn’t play is maybe the most important player, especially if I signed them. They need me to help them. It’s what I like about coaching the most: the human relationship. Getting the best out of the boys. I love the feeling.

Do you have a coaching mentor?

Not really a mentor. I had someone at Toulouse – Guillaume Floch – an old guy who was already on the staff who they didn’t really use much but he was great for me. He was in business, not the sports world, but he always made me ask him questions. It’s the same, business or sport: it’s man-management. He was always pushing me, asking the weirdest questions and I really liked that. He helped me. I am very open. I read a lot of books, especially Aussie books on coaching and managing. I spent a week at Warrington with Tony Smith, who was my coach at Huddersfield after John Kear left. I have a great relationship with Trent Robinson, who was at Toulouse and is now at the Roosters. With Trent, it’s not just about the footy, the rugby. It’s not just about on the field but what you are doing off the field. He is about creating good young men. I love that. When we leave the hotel I want them to say we were polite and outstanding.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sylvain Houles with Constantine Mika, who joined the club last May. Photograph: Gavin Willacy

What are you ambitions as coach? Would you move here if a top English Championship club wanted you?

That would be a tough one, a very tough one! I love England. One day, why not? It would be a tremendous experience but at the moment I am too committed to Toulouse and this project and this team. I want to go as far as I can with them. But one day I think that experience would be interesting. My wife is from London, East Finchley - we met in Albi when she was working in a bar, trying to learn French! Would an English team take a French coach, even though I speak fluent English? The game is big in England, different than in France. Coaching in the NRL? Ha! I don’t like thinking like that, but sometimes that idea is in my head.

What about being coach of the French national team one day?

Coaching a national team is very different – and difficult. It’s not what I believe in, [I prefer] being with players all the time and developing them. Having the national team is taking the best players of the moment, putting them on the park and trying to make something. I love rugby and I have loved rugby league, forever. But at the minute I love developing players.

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