FRANCK MESNEL

If Eden Park remains a brand that is still embodied today, it is thanks to its founding president Franck Mesnel, who is still operational, (also a helicopter pilot by passion and to continue learning), and therefore convinced that to be visionary, relaxed and able to add some touches of fantasy to his daily life, one must be very personally organized, rigorous and respect the collective operating processes of the company or those of his machine, to be able to move forward faster and safely for everyone.

"I am a stakhanovist of instruction, civicism and education which in my opinion are the major factors responsible for the success or failure of a rugby match, a company or a country. It seems to me more effective, interesting and fairer to work according to a long-term plan to really hope to be able to build and win together".

Coming from what he describes as a comfortable but demanding Parisian background in terms of values and education, Franck first studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris; and if he ended up postponing his final diploma, it was also to dare seize the opportunity to create his Eden Park brand with Éric Blanc.

Franck Mesnel inherited from his architectural studies, from his watercolorist mother, from his father who was an engineer at heart and business leader, a keen eye for design, decoration, elegance, slightly offbeat subjects and attention to extreme detail.

"It is always by starting from a very rigorous brief, which is in my opinion the basis of all creation, that the latter can achieve its objective safely: to please. Building to deconstruct is a concept I defend because when creation emanates from reflection, culture and solid references, it can then delicately destructure itself, without making too violent a destabilizing revolution. It then also allows supporting communication that can soar towards the most extreme offsets. This is my vision of French Flair! an adaptation in reaction to a situation quickly and precisely analyzed"

The practice of Rugby, completely within this culture, brought him the right balance between rigor and fantasy, central pillars of the Eden Park philosophy, with its demands for quality, durability, and meticulous attention to detail.

En tant que joueur, que ce soit pour le Racing ou le XV de France, Franck Mesnel fut un ouvreur moderne « dynamitero » armé de quelques ruades puissantes qui lui permettaient d’attaquer la ligne et de semer la panique dans la défense adverse. « Huitième avant » et attaquant instinctif ayant un coup de pied puissant (pas toujours très précis !), il fut également un plaqueur destructeur, apportant une réelle présence en défense à une époque où les ouvreurs stratèges mais plus fragiles déléguaient souvent cette tâche à leurs troisième ligne préférés. 

Auteur d’une ascension fulgurante dès sa première saison avec le Racing Club de France, en novembre 1986, le natif de Carrières sur Seine est appelé en équipe de France par Jacques Fouroux qui lui fait très vite confiance pour affronter les terribles All Blacks en tournée en France. « J’ai toujours eu une admiration pour les All Blacks », avoue-t-il. « À mes yeux, ces hommes des antipodes qui ont réussi leur melting-pot, alliant la rigueur britannique à l’instinct des maoris et autres polynésiens, pratiquent un rugby de rêve, basé sur la prise d’initiative individuelle, en responsabilisant complètement les soutiens qui doivent se porter à hauteur et offrir des alternatives, une sorte de rugby qui avance toujours comme les entrepreneurs ! »

Author of a meteoric rise from his first season with Racing Club de France, in November 1986, the native of Carrières-sur-Seine was called up to the French team by Jacques Fouroux who very quickly trusted him to face the fearsome All Blacks on tour in France. "I have always had admiration for the All Blacks," he admits. "In my eyes, these men from the antipodes who have succeeded in their melting pot, combining British rigor with the instinct of the Maoris and other Polynesians, practice dream rugby, based on taking individual initiative, by completely empowering the support players who must position themselves at the right level and offer alternatives, a kind of rugby that always moves forward like entrepreneurs!"

Runner-up world champion in 1987 against these same All Blacks, in the international arena of Eden Park, Franck would have a brilliant career, totaling 56 caps for the French XV (like his scrum-half and number 9 Pierre Berbizier) – most at fly-half, but some also at center alongside his legendary friend Philippe Sella. He would play in three World Cups (1987, 1991, 1995) and win the Five Nations Tournament twice, including the Grand Slam in 1987, only the fourth clean sweep in French rugby history.

Franck will also always remember some rare and very prestigious selections with the French or British Barbarians, or that unique and very exceptional tour in 1989 within a world selection, of which he was the number 10 against the famous Naas Botha and his Springbok partners. Ellis Park in Johannesburg and Newlands in Cape Town will always ring like 2 rough diamonds in his sporting memory.

On the national level, Franck Mesnel would play his entire career for one club – Racing Club de France – and after losing the final against Toulon in 1987, he would be crowned French Champion by winning the final against Agen in 1990, with, obviously a pink bow tie around his neck on that magnificent sky blue and white jersey which was an essential reason for his coming to the legendary Racing Club de France.

Author of a meteoric rise from his first season with Racing Club de France, in November 1986, the native of Carrières-sur-Seine was called up to the French team by Jacques Fouroux who very quickly trusted him to face the fearsome All Blacks on tour in France. "I have always had admiration for the All Blacks," he admits. "In my eyes, these men from the antipodes who have succeeded in their melting pot, combining British rigor with the instinct of the Maoris and other Polynesians, practice dream rugby, based on taking individual initiative, by completely empowering the support players who must position themselves at the right level and offer alternatives, a kind of rugby that always moves forward like entrepreneurs!"