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From Eerste River to the Eiffel Tower – William Iraguha's remarkable journey

From Eerste River to the Eiffel Tower – William Iraguha's remarkable journey
William Iraguha in action during the Challenge Trophy semi-final against Canada on day two of the HSBC Rugby Sevens Singapore in 2019. (Photo: Suhaimi Abdullah / Getty Images for Singapore Sports Hub)
Keanan Hemmonsbey
By Keanan Hemmonsbey
7 Dec 2022
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Playing international Sevens rugby allows professional athletes to see the world — something Kenyan-born, South African-raised, France international William Iraguha did unwillingly before he even ventured into the sport.

South Africa’s final group stage match at the Cape Town Sevens on Saturday is sure to be a thriller, with the top of the group potentially riding on the clash.

France is third on the World Series standings, while the Blitzboks are sitting pretty at the top after two legs.

Lurking beneath the thrill of the potentially group-defining match and World Series points, there is a subplot brewing.

When France sweeper William Iraguha takes to the field, it will be against the nation where he was introduced to the sport and his formative rugby years were spent.

Iraguha’s parents are Rwandan but fled the country in 1994 during the Rwanda genocide a month after giving birth to a baby boy, Herve, William’s elder brother.

iraguha sevens rugby William Iraguha of France in action during the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens at DHL Stadium in Cape Town. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images / Getty Images)



Iraguha, now 25, arrived in South Africa as a one-year-old in 1998 after his parents trekked from Kenya, where they originally sought refuge from the genocide.

“Until today, I’ve never been to Rwanda or Kenya since I was born. My first memories are in Cape Town,” Iraguha told Daily Maverick.

The oval ball


The Iraguha family moved home a few times in the northern suburbs of Cape Town — from Durbanville to Bellville before settling in Eerste River — but found a permanent school for William at Vredelust Primary in Bellville.

“I didn’t even know the sport (rugby) existed. It’s when I got to Vredelust. I did athletics and cricket in the summer and then winter sports came. I remember the teacher saying ‘you should play rugby’,” Iraguha said.

“I saw most of my friends, they knew about rugby and they knew they would play rugby. And I decided to play rugby too. I told my parents as soon as I got home. They were fine with it. That’s how I got into the sport.

“It was a bit unexpected at the time, but thinking about it now, it’s understandable growing up in Cape Town and South Africa.

“You’re more likely to play rugby than soccer,” a sport Iraguha was more familiar with at the time.

iraguha singapore William Iraguha in action during the Challenge Trophy semi-final against Canada on day two of the HSBC Rugby Sevens Singapore in 2019. (Photo: Suhaimi Abdullah / Getty Images for Singapore Sports Hub)



The love for the oval ball came immediately. “At the age of nine I remember saying, I want to become a rugby player,” he said.

When Iraguha moved to Eerste River as an 11-year-old, he made a friend his age who seemed to love the sport as much as he did.

“That’s where I met Juarno Augustus (the former Stormers and current Northampton Saints No 8).

“He lived 100 metres from me. We would play touch rugby all the time. His cousin, who lived opposite, had a nice backyard. We’d go there, play with each other, tackle each other.

“When I first arrived [in Eersteriver] I remember I was better than him, but in Grade 6 he got a lot bigger and he started getting the upper hand,” said Iraguha, half-serious, half-joking.

“We both loved rugby. We both wanted to play rugby but we could never have imagined all of this.”

Off to France


When xenophobic violence took hold in South Africa in the late 2000s, Iraguha’s parents made a tough decision.

Having already lived through a genocide, Iraguha’s mother was proactive in seeking safety for her family away from the bigotry bubbling in South Africa.

“My mother left for France in 2007. I was in Grade 4 at the time. That was tough and a bit unexpected. I’m a momma’s boy,” said Iraguha.

“I’m a bit older now and I understand it a bit better. I’m a foreigner and we had refugee status. As foreigners, it wasn’t really easy [in South Africa].

“I certainly wasn’t aware of all of that at that age, but for my parents it wasn’t easy. My mother left for France looking for a better life for her children.”

Iraguha’s mother found a job, a place to stay and sorted out the legal paperwork so her family could join her in France.

“Things started to fall into order. When everything was settled. We were supposed to leave on 24 November 2010.”

Iraguha had just finished primary school and was ready to start a new life with his family in the land of the croissant and the macaron.

But two days before Iraguha’s family were set to jet off, the bounce of the rugby ball that had given him so much pleasure did irreparable damage to his brother.

While playing touch rugby at home, Herve ran into the street to collect the ball that had rolled away and a car smashed into him, leaving him paralysed from the neck down.

“That delayed everything. My mother flew down to come see my brother and then I left with my mother. I arrived in France on the 4th of January 2011. I lived alone with my mother. My father and my brother stayed behind [while he was recovering].

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“That was tough. Leaving my father, saying goodbye to my brother, especially not knowing when I’d be able to see them again. I remember hugging my father at the airport and being in tears.

“Arriving in France, it was a completely different environment. I always grew up with my brother and it was like I was an only child when I got to France.”

In July 2011, six months after he had arrived, Iraguha’s brother and father joined him and his mother.

Everyone in the family had refugee status in 2011. Iraguha’s mother had waited for everyone to arrive before applying for permanent residence.

“She did everything [needed to receive French nationality] in 2013 and then in 2014 she got a reply — she got French nationality.

“I wasn’t 18 yet so when my mother got French nationality, I also got it. But my parents were divorced so my father and my brother [who was over 18] didn’t get French nationality. My brother has it now, but my father actually still doesn’t have French nationality.”

Adapting


Having played several different sports in South Africa, including cricket, hockey and athletics, Iraguha was informed by his mother that he could pick only one sport to play in France.

“I had to make a choice, but it wasn’t really a choice for me. I knew straight away that it was going to be rugby,” he said.

“My mother knew to get me into a rugby club. She looked around and there was actually a very nice club called Massy Essonne close to where my mother stays.”

“I was in the club before I even got into a proper school.”

On the rugby field, things went swimmingly for Iraguha as he made the provincial age group side at under-15 level, but he struggled to adapt to the new language quickly enough to excel in the classroom, and was held back a year.

Nevertheless, Iraguha kept weaving his way through defensive lines with beautifully arching runs from fullback, forcing selectors to take note, despite his diminutive size.

He continued to play provincial rugby throughout age group level and, despite missing out on national selection at under-16 level, he was noticed by the provincial Sevens team — but, surprisingly, rejected the offer.

“At the time, I didn’t really want to play Sevens… I wanted to focus on 15s,” Iraguha said.

“The year before that, I said no, but the next year I gave it a go and I ended up liking it, funnily enough.”

Getting spotted


He continued to play for his club side, Massy Essonne, as well as for the provincial Sevens side.

While playing for his province in 2015, Iraguha was spotted by France’s Sevens development squad (the side below the national Sevens team).

He continued playing for both club and province, but then got dragged in a different direction once again.

In 2017, Iraguha was called up to represent a France national age group side.

“The head coach at Massy Essonne was the coach of the France under-20 squad. I don’t know if it’s luck, but all three wingers that were supposed to play in the under-20 squad in the Six Nations were injured at the time,” he said.

“My coach brought me out for a camp. I made the under-20 Six Nations squad. I played four matches. I missed the last game against Wales. I didn’t play badly, but I don’t think I seized the opportunity.”

Iraguha joined a team of junior stars — some would go on to represent the senior national team, such as Gregory Alldritt and Romain Ntamack — who had played together at every other junior age group level.

“In sport sometimes that happens. It wasn’t really what I expected. I didn’t enjoy it that much.

“I don’t know if it was because there weren’t players that I really knew or players that I was friends with. I could see most of the guys already knew each other for a while. They’d been there since under-16. It wasn’t the best experience.”

The failure to “seize the opportunity” meant Iraguha missed out on selection for the under-20 Rugby World Cup later that year.

“I didn’t make the [under-20] World Cup squad either, but I wasn’t really that disappointed.”

It was the same World Cup in which his old friend, Juarno Augustus, was awarded player of the tournament and France and South Africa played against each other twice — in the group stage and the third-place playoff.

“That was the only thing I regret about not making the World Cup squad,” Iraguha said about missing the opportunity to play against Augustus.

“Funny enough, it was around the time of the World Cup when the French Sevens squad staff changed and they wanted to try me out again with the development squad.

“From there, things went quickly. The staff of the national [Sevens] team, I think I caught their eye. At Massy Essonne, I wasn’t really getting a chance with the first team. [While] the Sevens team wanted me there.”

After completing pre-season with the national Sevens team and preparing to jet off to Germany to play in a friendly tournament, Iraguha injured his shoulder and was ruled out for the entire 2017/2018 season.

“When I got back, the management of the development squad had less interest in me, even though I felt like I was playing well after my injury.”

Homecoming


Iraguha made his first return to South Africa in 2018 with the France Sevens development side, where they took on the Blitzboks in a friendly match in Stellenbosch.

“I remember I even scored a nice try and played well. We got smashed, but it was still nice playing against [Rosko] Specman and the other guys,” he recalled.

But at 21, it felt like his rugby career had come to a halt, as Massy Essonne first team head coaches weren’t giving him a look-in and the Sevens development side started to look at other options.

“Then a guy called Aymeric Luc was injured and I got a call from one of the development coaches telling me that ‘we’re going to South Africa for [another] camp’.”

Iraguha’s team played against the South African Academy side, among others, in a mini-tournament.

“I play sweeper position and one of the things that wasn’t my strength was kicking, but I kicked well that tournament. I don’t know if it was luck,” he said.

“There was one member of the senior team staff that was also with us [in South Africa]. From there, things took off quickly. They called me up to train with the senior Sevens team for the first time.”

Debut


With two legs left of the 2019 season — Hong Kong and Singapore — Iraguha finally made the step up to form part of the wider group of the national Sevens side.

“I was training well, worked hard and they wanted to test me out. 

“They were planning to take me to Hong Kong but my passport… to travel you need more than six months of validity.

“I wasn’t exactly sure if they were going to take me to the tournament [in Hong Kong]. I knew my passport wasn’t up to date, but I didn’t tell them because I didn’t want them to think that I think I’m going.”

Iraguha subsequently missed the Hong Kong leg — where France made the final — receiving his passport the day after the team departed.

“Then someone got injured in Hong Kong and I got a call from the manager… I was at my parents’ place — I remember getting the call — saying ‘there’s an injury and we’re going to call you up’. I was overjoyed. 

“I met them at the hotel. When I got there, the Fijians were there and I saw Jerry Tuwai and I thought I was dreaming. That was special.”

The Singapore leg of the World Series was the first time Iraguha played senior competitive rugby.

“The tournament went well. The pool games I didn’t start, but then the next day the coach started me.”

“The funny thing is, my first game starting was against Kenya,” Iraguha’s country of birth.

After impressing in Singapore, Iraguha was offered his first contract with the France Sevens team.

“Even though it was only a one-year contract, I knew I wanted to play Sevens and I didn’t see myself going anywhere [else].”

South Africa


In a full-circle moment, Iraguha’s first tournament as a contracted Sevens player was in Cape Town in December 2019.

“We had a good tournament… we finished third — we even beat Fiji. That was my first time playing against Tuwai and for a second during a scrum I was starstruck.”

Having spent half his life in France and half his life in South Africa, the answer to where “home” is, is never a simple one for Iraguha.

“I’m at home in France but the home of my heart is always going to be Cape Town,” he said. “Every time I’m here, it’s always special.” DM

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