Stephen Parez-Edo Martin does not think of himself as a material person.
But any time he returns to his Marseille home he spends a few moments looking at his gold medal from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Those moments staring at gleaming gold and blue ribbon, with a piece of the Eiffel Tower embedded in its centre bring the memories flooding back.
From the roaring crowd at the Stade de France, Antoine Dupont’s two late tries to secure victory and singing La Marseillaise at the top of his lungs. All of it.
From 5 to 7 June 2026, rugby sevens will return to France, some 22 months after Parez-Edo Martin and his teammates claimed gold in Paris.
Across the weekend, the men’s and women’s world champions will be crowned during the Grand Final of the HSBC SVNS Championship following an action-packed, globe-trotting tournament. Not only that, it will be a unique celebration of rugby sevens that will allow French supporters a first chance to see their Olympic champions on home soil for the first time in just shy of two years.
The excitement is palpable. Just the notion of playing in front of a home crowd again sees a broad smile break across the face of Parez-Edo Martin. He cannot wait.
“We are so excited,” he said. “The French crowd are eager to get back to sevens and Bordeaux is a beautiful region where wine, food and rugby holds a very important place. I think it is going to be massive.”
Bringing HSBC SVNS competition to Bordeaux is, in many ways, perfect. Not only one of France’s most iconic cities, with a rich history, in recent years the city has become one of French rugby’s great heartlands.
It is the home of Investec Champions Cup holders and Top 14 runners-up Union Bordeaux Begles, as well as back-to-back-to-back Élite 1 champions, Stade Bordelais.
The banks of the Garonne are the perfect place to see out the 2025/26 HSBC SVNS Championship phase and to see men’s and women’s champions crowned.
In many ways it could be the perfect storm for France. Fourth in the standings after the opening two rounds of the HSBC SVNS Series in Dubai and Cape Town, with France’s women’s team fifth, already Parez-Edo Martin and his team have set the wheels in motion for a successful campaign.
A win in Bordeaux could see the 31-year-old become a world champion for the second time in his career, after Les Bleus won the title in the lead-up to the Olympics in 2024. But, doing it in front of an adoring home crowd, would mean more.
“We will see who wins the championship in Bordeaux,” Parez-Edo Martin said. “I hope that we’re going to have a great season and be in the three final Championship tournaments.
“I think it can be helpful for us to finish in Bordeaux and finish strong. The crowd can give us the strength of an eighth player.
“After the Olympics, the French crowd loved sevens and wanted to keep coming to the stadiums to watch it. We are more than excited to be playing in front of a home crowd.”
There has been a changing of the guard since France’s success at the Olympics. Parez-Edo Martin and Paulin Riva are the senior statesmen of Jerome Daret and Benoît Baby’s side that has seen the likes of Celian Pouzelgues, Andy Timo and Simon Desert all emerge as stars on the Series.
Last year France finished fifth overall on the Series and picked up second place finishes in Cape Town and Hong Kong, before a fifth-place finish at the Championship Finals in Los Angeles.
After two legs of the Series in 2025/26, Parez-Edo Martin has seen clear signs of progression from last season as this new group of would-be world-beaters develops.
“I’m very happy with the progress of our team since last year,” Parez-Edo Martin said. “Even if we have missed consistency throughout an entire tournament – we lost every match on the second day (in Dubai and Cape Town), so we have to improve. The attack aspect is very interesting. There are connections being created.”
When it comes to identifying the young players that supporters should be keeping an eye out for, the 31-year-old immediately thinks of Josselin Bouhier and Enahemo Artaud.
Already looking so much more self-assured on the HSBC SVNS’ biggest stage, the duo are only likely to see their confidence sky-rocket over the course of the season.
Their next opportunity to get out on the field will be at the end of January in Singapore. While, unashamedly, enjoying a well-earned winter break, any player associated with France Sevens knows exactly what rewards lie ahead of them further into 2026.
“We want to win as many tournaments as possible and to win the tournament in Bordeaux in June,” Parez-Edo Martin said. “I think we are not far from winning a tournament.
“We just have to be more consistent and I think it can be possible. We have a lot of young players – great players – and I think they can make it.”
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