Welsh rugby presenter Lauren Salter has impressed viewers once again after showcasing her fluent French during a live television interview with Bordeaux Begles star Maxime Lucu. Salter was on hosting duties for Premier Sports' coverage of Gloucester's thrilling 36-36 draw with the reigning Champions Cup holders on Friday night, with the broadcaster tasked with conducting the post-match interviews.
She delivered a memorable moment after the final whistle, speaking to France international Lucu in his native language before translating his responses live on air. The interview began in English, with Salter introducing the Bordeaux star and referencing his side's hopes of extending their remarkable winning run to 17 consecutive matches.
Seamless switch to French
"I have Maxime Lucu with me. Maxime, we knew you wanted that record, 17 games in a row, you didn't get it..." she said, before seamlessly switching to French to put the question to the 33-year-old. Lucu responded in French, with Salter then translating his answer for viewers watching at home.
"Maxime said, 'We didn't get the record but neither did we lose, so we take the draw and we move on'," she explained. She went on to relay Lucu's assessment of Gloucester's performance and their strong start to the Premiership season, explaining that Bordeaux had known what they were coming up against and felt small errors had ultimately cost them.
"They tried to impose their attacking game but defensively [Gloucester] were top notch tonight," she added. Salter then followed up with another question in French, this time asking Lucu about his appearance in the fly-half position for Bordeaux, having predominantly played as a scrum-half throughout his career.
Viewers praise multilingual skills
After receiving his response, she again translated for the Premier Sports audience. "He seems very happy to be wearing 10!" she said. "He wants to develop his skills in the [No.10] shirt and he's talked about having 10, 15 minutes in this position previously. Who knows, we may see him there again. But he's certainly one of the best No.9s in France at the minute."
Salter then turned back to the French international to bring the interview to a close, telling him: "Maxime, merci beaucoup." TV viewers were massively impressed with her interviewing skills. Andrew Forde wrote on X: "Lauren Salter is a fantastic full stop, but absolutely superb when it comes to multilingual interviews, just brilliant."
Another X account said: "Lauren proving yet again she's one of the best presenters. Her knowledge and the way she will ask the right and difficult questions have always been class. But the fact she has done a interview while translating too is awesome.." Another said: "Some proper multitasking going on here by @laurenemmaj - superb work."
Not the first time
"How good is she?" wrote one impressed fan. "Interviews in French and English and translates back to the audience without a hiccup. Well done!!!" Others went on to describe her interview as "excellent" and "outstanding" as she received rave reviews for her multilingual skills after the Kingsholm thriller.
It is not the first time the Welsh presenter has caught the attention of rugby viewers with her linguistic ability. Earlier this year, during S4C's coverage of Wales' Six Nations clash with France, Salter conducted an interview with French fly-half Matthieu Jalibert entirely in French before translating his responses into Welsh.
The exchange attracted widespread praise on social media, with viewers impressed by her ability to move effortlessly between the two languages during a live broadcast. Salter previously spoke to WalesOnline about how she developed her French-speaking ability, revealing that time spent in France proved crucial to building her confidence.
Having studied French at A-level and spent two years studying the language, she admitted she initially struggled when she arrived in the country. "I got to France thinking I could speak French because I'd done it at A-level and studied it for two years, and I absolutely couldn't speak French," she told WalesOnline in 2023.
"I probably knew a bit about French history and literature and could talk classroom French but had no idea how to really speak French. Suddenly, I was thrown in the deep end one day: I've turned up here, everyone thinks I can speak French because I've told them, and I can't, and now it's sink or swim."
She even drew comparisons between learning to speak French in everyday life and finding her feet as a live broadcaster. "In some ways, maybe it's not too dissimilar to doing your first live broadcast, which I'll never forget," she said. "It was me and Robin McBryde, in Llandovery for S4C's Rygbi Pawb, and I was thinking 'what the hell am I doing here? I've no idea if I can broadcast live because you can't really practise, so we're just going to see how this goes'."
Judging by her latest exchange with Lucu, Salter has certainly come a long way since those early days, with her ability to conduct an interview in French and translate the answers in real time providing another impressive moment for rugby viewers.
