Serge Blanco the bazooka: France’s Mr Fixit

He’s a remarkable man, is Serge Blanco, a one-off, someone who has become part of the fabric of French life in his 56 years, and who today is charged with helping transform the national rugby team into credible World Cup contenders.

What makes Blanco’s success so remarkable is that his life begun in humble and tragic circumstances.

He was born in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, to a French mother and a Venezuelan father, a policeman called Pedro, who died of a heart-attack when his son was just two. His widow returned home, settling with her infant son in Biarritz, the chic beach resort in the south-west of France.