No Clermont for me

What a frustrating day. I am not playing against Clermont. Yesterday I didn’t train after I felt some tightness in my hamstring during my speed session. I went along to the Physio and Doctor today and they said it is a lesion and I am not to run for 8 days. I felt sick, got very hot all of a sudden and quite angry. No more needs to be said, I do not intend to go over what I felt then and what I feel now. It’s obvious how big this game is and how much I wanted to play.

Things got better in the evening, and put into perspective. The Espoirs’ backs coach invited me and another player into the bar at the training ground for a beer. My chum is 22 and part of the academy. He broke into the pros at the age of 18, played a bit when Racing weren’t yet in the top flight, then moved back down to the espoirs when the recruitment begun. Last year he suffered one of those horrible knee injuries, had an operation and has not played this season. I may or may not have written about when the physio told me that if he didn’t play before Christmas then he might not again. Clearly he didn’t play before Christmas or since, though he has just returned to training in spite of continual pain in his ‘50 year old’ knee.

Over this jovial beer, I continued my investigation into French rugby. The French think we in the UK put a higher emphasis on skills and I have to agree. They think we train better. I can’t see any noticeable difference. On the topic of fly-halves and the ‘controlling of the game’, for the French, they only worry about that side of the game when the player is a bit older, certainly older than me, and definitely only once they have mastered getting a backline moving and attacking the line – the basics.

The espoirs coach played for Racing at Crabos, Reichel and Senior level, an impressive record. His playing days were just before the big time, before the influx of money and the boost of ‘Metro’. He recalled his Reichel days (u21) when they prepared for the final stages of the Championnat by heading off to Casablanca for a week. He did explain that it was cheaper than going to the provinces...I wasn’t convinced.

The only issue was when the S+C coach asked me who I lived with, then remembered that I have a reputation for messiness. This untruth was spread by ‘the piece’, my flatmate whom I have not spoken to since September 11^th 2010 when we fell out. I’ve a good mind to sue him for defamation of character, when I get round to doing my dishes that is (joke, I’ve done mine, his lie in a pile of Dijon mustard infested filth) Evil can take many forms, you see... It was him who didn’t speak to me first, anyway... And if he wants a grudge or a stalemate then I can play that game and I don’t often lose. Stirring stuff indeed. To be honest, I get by just fine without speaking to him. When he cooks and is around, I make sure I am not. Ironically, we show some good teamwork.

But I don’t want to conclude like that. Today’s positives include a lovely evening amongst friends and yet another day where my tan has progressed. Today’s negatives include the news that I will not be taking part in the biggest game of the season so far and arguably my life.

"The time given to athletic contests and the injuries incurred on the playing field are part of the price which the English-speaking race has paid for being world conquerors."

- Henry Cabot Lodge