Will Collier's journey to Castres perfectly encapsulates the vibrant world of French club rugby. The former Harlequins prop, now part of the Top 14, finds the matchday bus rides to the stadium an exhilarating experience. 'You can hear the fans when you’re still a minute away,' he says. 'You can see the smoke and the flares going off. There are drums and trumpeters … they even had a saxophonist last week. It’s absolutely bonkers. The passion is wild.'

Castres, a town of around 50,000 people, is a hotbed of rugby fever. 'When we played Toulouse at home in October there were people crying in the pre-game guard of honour. It meant that much to them,' Collier recalls. Despite his 240 first-team appearances for Quins, the atmosphere at Clermont’s Stade Marcel-Michelin left him in awe. 'I came back on following a yellow card and they were baying for blood. It was like they were at some kind of dogfight. It was a real cauldron … the energy from the crowd was unbelievable.'

Collier's enthusiasm suggests the move from Putney to south-west France has been a positive one. 'Better a bracingly fresh life experience than a nagging sense of “if only”,' he says. He is not alone in enjoying his change of scene; his family often meets up with Jack Willis and his family in Toulouse. Former teammates like Joe Marchant and Kyle Sinckler are at Stade Français and Toulon, respectively, while many other English internationals are scattered across France.

As the Champions Cup commences, the Rugby Football Union might need to reconsider its stance on players based abroad. 'Steve Borthwick has to be allowed to pick the best players he can,' Collier argues. 'I feel quite honoured to have found a spot for myself in the Top 14 because they’re so hard to come by.'

Collier believes that a cross-fertilisation of ideas benefits the English game. 'South Africa are a good example. They benefit hugely from having players who have been all over the place and bring back different things from different rugby cultures,' he notes. His move to Castres has also been a personal growth experience. 'Castres is a very small town but I’m absolutely loving it. Going away, experiencing a new culture … you have to grow,' he says. 'I’ve only been here for six months but you start to appreciate different things a little more. The pace of life is different, I’ve spent a lot more time with my family. I would 100% recommend it.'

Collier's passion for rugby and food is well-served in Castres. 'Everything revolves around rugby and food, which just happen to be two of my big passions. You can’t throw a stone without hitting a boulangerie here,' he says. 'You can also go down to the local supermarket and find the most incredible bottles of win for €9-10 (roughly £8). You think, ‘This can’t be good’. Then you realise that back home it would be retailing for £30-40. It’s pretty amazing to have access to that kind of stuff – in limited quantities, obviously.'

The family's accommodation is far from average. 'We managed to find a beautiful house 15 minutes out of town with a big garden and a swimming pool. It’s got a chicken coop, four barbecues and a pizza oven. I’m a big barbecue fan, so it’s ideal,' he says. Despite the demanding nature of his job and the pressure to uphold civic pride, Collier remains enthusiastic about his new life.

Collier's slight groin issue means he will miss Castres' opening trip to Northampton, but he is optimistic about the team's future. 'There seems to be a real energy around the group to go hard this weekend,' he says. 'Every player has been coming up to me asking ‘What’s it like at Franklin’s Gardens?’ It’s one of the things they want to tick off, playing against the English champions. We’ve got a big lumpy team with some star-studded backs so we’ll be sending a team who are capable of going toe-to-toe with Northampton.'

Collier and his fellow Francophiles do not sound particularly homesick, suggesting that the move to France has been a fulfilling one.

Source link:   https://www.theguardian.com