Student of the Game

One of the hardest things has been gaining independence – I don’t mean living by myself, domesticating myself, that’s all been comparatively easy. I mean rugby independence, and that’s probably not the best way to put it; it’s more a personal responsibility. No more do I have people patting me on the shoulder telling me I’m the bees knees, the captain, top dog. That was one of the reasons I moved away from Scotland, home of the comfort zone rugby player. If I do something badly then people will tell me, the French are not shy, but they compliment too, often by patting my head, “bien joué poulet”. But if I come away from a poor session, it’s no longer home to a nice meal and chats and school work to take my mind off it. There’s less getting away from it, and I’m slowly but surely learning to control these sorts of thoughts, to take what I can from a session then put it to bed and get on with my evening.

I’ve also finally nailed down how the coaches want me to play as a fly-half. In the UK, a scrum-half will often ask his 10, “do you want the ball coming onto it or do you want it more standing still?” This question doesn’t seem to exist in France. A 10 should come flying onto the ball as fast as he can, running straight at the defence. The only thing that changes is where he starts running from, so whether he will be playing flat or slightly deeper – obviously depending on whether the ball is to be shipped wide or not. The flatter the better, they agree, but if the ball is to go wide, then you can afford to be slightly deeper as the pace that you take the ball should hold the defence enough. This has all been hard for me to grasp and assimilate but I’m getting there.

And this is also why I moved away for this year, to experience these other points of view, ways of doing things. I am now more of a complete player if I am able to play in different ways, and some student of the game, too. That’s not to say there’s anything prescriptive about it. Everything is looked at in the context of a game, where the pass ends up. There are no clipboards or boxes being ticked. When our coach hands out the shirts before the match, as he goes round and shakes everyone’s hands, he has always said the same thing: “Faire jouer. Plaisir. Joue avec plaisir, amuse toi. Bon match”. Maybe he’s trying to unleash the Frenchman in me, to break down my dour exterior and natural game as he sees it, pragmatically schooled in the mud.

This whole year was meant to be a learning experience (rugby and otherwise), with a view to the long-term (rugbywise). But so far, being allowed to develop away from Scotland in a testing environment where I’m frequently the youngest, the smallest, always the foreigner (never the slowest, thankfully) is definitely the best place to be. Strange to think that I’ve been here nearly 7 months. The hardest bits are well and truly gone, stored away. The only way I can become more a part of the club is if I drop a winning goal in the Championship final. And that’s on the 29^th May, so for now all I have to worry about is the 4 pronged challenge of March (see earlier post) which will determine our seeding for the play-offs. The speed is making its return like the prodigal son, the cobwebs are being dusted off the left hip and I’m excited. Before I know it it’ll be Edinburgh in the summer, so determined to make the most of the next wee while, mais avec plaisir!!