Before we start waxing lyrical and turning all Francophile, it\u2019s worth pointing out it\u2019s not for everyone. A certain Owen Farrell<\/a> is happily back home in Hertfordshire after a disastrous sole season at Racing 92, for instance. Others, like former Ireland wing Simon Zebo<\/a>, have flourished in the capital. Granted the Munster man had a big leg up by virtue of his dad being French and therefore knowing the language, but his three-year stint at les Ciel et Blanc was a standout career highlight.<\/p>\n Read more: How to watch this weekend\u2019s Champions Cup action anywhere in the world<\/a><\/p>\n Zebo: \u2018I loved it\u2026 that being your life, not just your holiday mode\u2019 Simon Zebo of Racing 92 during the Top 14 match (Getty Images)<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an easier integration than, for example, Finn (Russell<\/a>), who was picking up the language and a new culture all in one go,\u201d the Premier Sports pundit tells us. \u201cI was able to pick everything up fast and that meant I was able to fit into the rugby rather quickly as well, which was great.\u201d For Zebo, Paris is what you make of it. <\/p>\n \u201cI loved getting properly immersed in the culture. It was class, like, going to the parks and going to the boulangeries and that being your life, not just your holiday mode. Day-to-day stuff was class. <\/p>\n \u201cPlaying for one of the best clubs in France, playing in the (La D\u00e9fense) arena and playing around some of the best players in the world. We had an amazing team at the time and seeing that from a rugby perspective was class. <\/p>\n \u201cI would just say as a city it\u2019s amazing that you can be as quiet as you want, or you can be in the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es and you could have the best nights out, dinners and restaurants. It can be as noisy or as quiet as you like, so we were in a good area for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: How to watch Champions Cup<\/a><\/p>\n One upcoming move to France has made rather a large amount of noise in rugby circles in the UK. Tom Willis had established himself as England\u2019s first-choice No 8 after returning to the Gallagher PREM with Saracens after a year at Bordeaux following the demise of Wasps. Willis was even the beneficiary of an enhanced England<\/a> deal, meaning he was guaranteed around \u00a3160,000 for this 2025-26 season regardless of how many times he pulled on the rose. <\/p>\n Nobody predicted that he would never take to the field. But after it transpired that Willis had re-signed for Bordeaux from next year, Steve Borthwick<\/a> took the view that he was surplus to requirements after effectively ruling himself out of contention for the 2027 Rugby World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n British players in France: Why has Tom Willis chosen to move to France?<\/p>\n Perhaps it will work out better for both parties. Willis is joining the reigning European champions after all. Plus Tom can\u2019t help but notice just how happy his brother Jack<\/a> continues to be in Toulouse. He was even honoured as the Top 14\u2019s best player for last season and shows no signs of slowing down at the European giants. <\/p>\n England didn\u2019t seem to miss him either as Borthwick\u2019s men went four from four in the autumn and Ben Earl put in four stellar displays from the base of the scrum. Regardless, it\u2019s still a ballsy move. \u201cRugby is such a short career,\u201d says Dan Robson<\/a>, who played with the Willis brothers at Wasps before he was also forced to look abroad with Pau.<\/p>\n Read more: Who are the Champions Cup past winners?<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think he would be on any more money coming to France. He might just want to come for the mental side and life experience that he wasn\u2019t getting in England. <\/p>\n \u201cYou can only respect that. It says a lot that the starting England No 8 wants to do this for himself and his family instead of that. I think he saw Jack over here and what he was doing, which probably gave him extra motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n Pau\u2019s English scrum-half Dan Robson grabs the ball during the French Top14 rugby union match between Section Paloise Bearn Pyrenees (Pau) and Stade Francais Paris (Getty Images)<\/p>\n Robson takes my call poolside in Pau where the temperature is approaching 20 degrees despite it being November. You can see the appeal of this lifestyle immediately.<\/p>\n Robson: \u2018It was a massive culture shock\u2019<\/p>\n Things haven\u2019t always been so rosy, though. The 14-cap England international is a highly-valued part of the set-up at Section Paloise now but admits he had to embrace a \u201cmassive culture shock\u201d after moving his entire life to a new country where he didn\u2019t speak the language midway through the 2022-23 season at a drop of a hat. <\/p>\n \u201cI flew over on my own at the start with basically a couple of kit bags. My wife drove over with her parents, who had a campervan. <\/p>\n \u201cWe shoved a load of stuff in the campervan and they did a little trip over. I was in a hotel for the first week, then an Airbnb, then found a house, then another house once I\u2019d re-signed. It was a lot, especially after what had happened, but we understood the difficulties and wanted to try something new and different.<\/p>\n Read more: Champions Cup and South African struggles<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt was a massive culture shock. The advice I had was always to just embrace it and not think too much. It did take a while, especially being mid-season. I went straight into games, coming from the English set-up at Wasps, and was thrown into a totally new environment and new way of doing things. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not that one way is right or wrong, but it felt very different. As soon as you start embracing it and living the French way, you do start to settle in pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Pau\u2019s English fly half Joe Simmonds (R) runs with the ball (Getty Images)<\/p>\n Former Leicester ten Zack Henry helped him in the early days but it\u2019s another Englishman who often wears that shirt now in Joe Simmonds, the man who captained Exeter to a PREM and Champions Cup double in 2020. His former half-back partner at Chiefs, Jack Maunder<\/a>, referred to \u2018Sizzle\u2019 as the Prince of Pau. When we caught up with the man himself, he does seem to be loving it bar one key facet.<\/p>\n What do British players in France miss?<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, French food is a bit overrated for me,\u201d Simmonds<\/a> tells us. \u201cEnglish food is underrated! They do good food here but I miss good English pub food, like roast dinners. I miss the general pub experience \u2013 sitting down, having a Guinness and eating off the pub menu. I also miss Nando\u2019s! <\/p>\n \u201cAnd they don\u2019t do a very good breakfast \u2013 it\u2019s just croissants, which isn\u2019t ideal for an athlete.\u201d <\/p>\n While his palate may yearn for home, Simmonds has found a sense of freedom away after escaping the Exeter bubble. \u201cMy mindset has changed. I feel more relaxed. In Exeter, I always felt the pressure to prove something. Moving here, not many people knew who I was and I have that freedom now. I don\u2019t feel pressure on my shoulders; I can just play my own game.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: When was the last time a British or Irish team won the Champions Cup?<\/a><\/p>\n Getting out on the golf course with the better weather helps him switch off from the day job. On top of that, the beaches of Biarritz are an hour away while the Pyrenees mountains are a similar journey. Simmonds has made good friends with both the foreign and French crew but admits the different way of socialising in France took some adjusting to.<\/p>\n \u201cThe social side is probably the main difference,\u201d he adds. \u201cIn England, there\u2019s a big pub and drinking scene with lots of socials, especially at Exeter. <\/p>\n \u201cFrance is completely different \u2013 it\u2019s more about restaurants and longer meals. It was something that I had to adapt to.\u201d<\/p>\n Nowell: \u2018It took a while to settle into life in France\u2019<\/p>\n Another former Chief born and bred in England\u2019s South-West but plying his trade in the Top 14 is Cornishman Jack Nowell<\/a>. The 2017 British & Irish Lion is playing under Ronan O\u2019Gara at La Rochelle after leaving Sandy Park in 2023. <\/p>\n While living on the idyllic \u00cele de R\u00e9 is a pretty nice perk of his new job, Nowell confesses that his family\u2019s first six months in France were not without their challenges. \u201cI feel very lucky in this team that everybody is a good lad. They made sure I was welcome straightaway,\u201d Nowell tells us.<\/p>\n La Rochelle\u2019s Jack Nowell during the Investec Champions Cup match between Bath Rugby and La Rochelle (Getty Images)<\/p>\n \u201cThe struggle was probably the family side of it. The kids starting a new school, making sure my wife\u2019s happy and things like that, but I\u2019d say after six or seven months of persevering and making sure the kids are all right, we finally got to the other side and the kids started loving school and speaking French. Then it was a lot more enjoyable.\u201d <\/p>\n Nowell is not as proficient as his kids in the language but insists he\u2019s giving it a good go, even if other expats might be leading the way. \u201cYou look at boys like Jack Willis up at Toulouse and you see the way he\u2019s speaking French, doing team talks and stuff, and I feel like I\u2019m miles away from that level. I get a bit of stick from the lads here, but I think the main thing is as long as I\u2019m trying and understanding, that\u2019s all you care about.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: Who is Jack Nowell? What you need to know about the former England winger<\/a><\/p>\n We try and suss out whether the stereotypical view that there is an abundance of baguettes on offer is true and Nowell is happy to oblige. \u201cThat isn\u2019t a rumour. There are baguettes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But I am going to be biased and I\u2019ll say the baguettes are a lot nicer over here than they are at home.\u201d No complaints here. Toulon\u2019s David Ribbans agrees to the extent that he\u2019ll never buy supermarket sliced bread again. <\/p>\n Nowell enjoys testing himself against the best of the best in the Top 14. \u201cIt\u2019s probably a bit more physical than the PREM but not as quick. There\u2019s a lot of big boys.\u201d Luckily for him, one of them in Will Skelton is on his own team.<\/p>\n British players in France: \u2018It is unbelievably physical\u2019<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just the top division where French rugby packs a punch, as our hour-long chat with Agen nine Maunder reveals. \u201cPro D2 is unbelievably physical. The rucks are tough, especially being a nine. They are brutal! A few more loose feet on the fingers\u2026 There is slightly more on-the-line play. That\u2019s the best way to put it as I\u2019m still here!\u201d <\/p>\n Maunder, who picked up an England cap off the bench in Argentina in 2017 \u2013 a game that is now probably best known for also marking Tom Curry\u2019s<\/a> debut \u2013 says that momentum is massive in French rugby. Once teams get on a roll then it\u2019s very hard to stop them. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never experienced such big swings in momentum in games. Anybody in the league, once they get a hot hand, are hard to stop.\u201d Emotion plays a large part in that. \u201cThey live and breathe it here. It\u2019s the biggest thing that happens in the week. Every week is do or die and feels like a World Cup final.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: The key details about the 2027 Rugby World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n That importance filters into how the pro teams prepare. \u201cFridays are more important here. It\u2019s a lot more of a psych-up and big team talk. There\u2019s more Churchillian-style leadership I\u2019d say.\u201d Maunder points out how due to the Espoirs academy, a lot of lads have played together since the age of 15 or 16 and understandably that builds closeness. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s very much a culture here of playing for Agen, or where you\u2019re from, and that being the most important thing you\u2019ll ever do, which I think is really lovely. In England, winning is important but you\u2019re pragmatic.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack Maunder during a match (Getty Images)<\/p>\n If it wasn\u2019t for the demise of the Melbourne Rebels, Maunder might still be happily kicking around in Australia where he and his now wife were settled and he\u2019d enjoyed learning a more expansive brand of play. But as is a far-too-common tale, they had to leave that all behind and make a fist of things in France. Everything happens for a reason and all that and now Maunder is savouring the French rugby experience. \u201cWhen you\u2019re winning here, it\u2019s the best thing in the world.\u201d Big praise indeed.<\/p>\n British players in France: How difficult is it to pick up the language?<\/p>\n As for his French, it\u2019s come on since the faux pas he made in negotiations. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot better than when in my initial interview I called the head coach Madame! As soon as I said it, I realised I\u2019d f***ed up. <\/p>\n \u201cI started lessons as soon as I knew I was coming but if a plumber turned up in five minutes, I wouldn\u2019t have any idea what to say to him. That\u2019s how I\u2019d put it.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: Premiership fixtures<\/a><\/p>\n Such is the ferocity of feeling and home support, you daren\u2019t lose home games in France. It\u2019s sacrilege to get turned over on your own patch. \u201cThe home and the away mentality is the other main difference,\u201d adds Maunder. \u201cIt\u2019s changed a bit this year but teams at the bottom can thrash those higher up at home. You just have to roll with the punches a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Maunder, Robson is a nine and communicating with referees in a foreign language is tough, but they also don\u2019t seem to be as responsive to dialogue as the Gallagher PREM officials<\/a>. \u201cThe refereeing for a start is different, to say the least. There are communication struggles because of the language. I was used to being able to chat to the referee for 80 minutes. Here, it\u2019s more inconsistent and you have to figure things out on the hoof. You have to learn and play with it and not get frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtney Lawes during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final match between Northampton Saints and Bath Rugby (Getty Images)<\/p>\n On our trip to Brive, a certain Courtney Lawes also exhibits plenty of frustration towards a new style of reffing. Even if he is a bit more guarded when we start recording. \u201cFor Northampton, I never got yellow cards, but over here in France I seem to be getting loads,\u201d he tells us. Former Harlequins and Bristol prop Kyle Sinckler, now at Toulon, raises a valid point about the lack of professional refs. \u201cYou get a big advantage when you\u2019re at home and then when you\u2019re the away team it can be tough sledding at times, but that\u2019s the way it goes. <\/p>\n \u201cIn the French league, I think there are only two professional refs. The others have normal jobs \u2013 they\u2019ll be a school teacher or something Monday to Friday, and rock up to the Top 14 on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n Players destined to play in France<\/p>\n Some players just suit the style of play across the Channel. And Pau\u2019s Carwyn Tuipulotu is one of those. The big No 8 couldn\u2019t carve out much game time at Scarlets and then after a brief loan spell at Saracens he got the chance to come out to France. He hasn\u2019t looked back since. \u201cThe Top 14 is beautiful chaos,\u201d he explains. \u201cThey play attractive rugby, so it suits me. And obviously some teams are very direct and physical, and I think Section Paloise have a playing style with the big forwards that they\u2019ve got. So I definitely suit the way they play and the game plan. <\/p>\n \u201cI just told them to give me the ball and I\u2019ll run it, so it was pretty simple from that point of view. I made my intentions clear. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve found that in the Top 14 anyone can win, like anyone could beat anyone. And it\u2019s an exciting league. It\u2019s one of the best in the world, so yeah, it\u2019s really good. A good place to develop my rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: What is a HIA?<\/a><\/p>\n Even when injury strikes, it\u2019s hard to get too downbeat. Tuipulotu tells us he\u2019s about to head to San Sebastian with his old Ospreys mate Harry Williams to go pintxos bar-hopping. Sounds delightful. It may be pretty idyllic now but it was a move that could have gone wrong for the 24-year-old. \u201cI wasn\u2019t really keen on moving at first. I was kind of scared, just away from family, but I think I needed to be out of my comfort zone. Because it was a big risk at first, and then I guess I kind of just started enjoying my rugby more.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard not to feel a little bit smug when looking back across at the dire state of Welsh affairs. He feels for his former colleagues and friends at clubs there but definitely doesn\u2019t envy their plight, with one of the Ospreys or Scarlets set to be chopped by the WRU<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cMy agent was telling me about the regions moving down to three clubs and it\u2019s obviously really sad because I know a lot of the boys back in Wales. And obviously, I was there when all the conversations started happening, and it was a bit nerve-wracking and anxiety-inducing. But I definitely feel glad that I\u2019m out here in France.\u201d<\/p>\n British players in France: Beware the late kick-offs<\/p>\n There is one common complaint across our chats with Brits in the top two divisions of French rugby. The 9pm kick-offs are alien to them. Supposedly because the French like to sit down to eat at 8pm and then flick the TV on after, it\u2019s primetime viewing for Canal+. But for the players trying to peak at the right time, it can cause havoc with your preparation. <\/p>\n David Ribbans<\/a> told us he was absolutely knackered when he made his debut off the bench for Toulon on a Sunday night. Many of the locals will get a nap in and it\u2019s customary for teams to meet up a good five hours or so before kick-off and then relax before the big kick-off. However, if like Maunder you aren\u2019t able to kip in the day then it\u2019s an exercise in maintaining your energy. That\u2019s before you even factor in the travel time if you\u2019re on the road. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve arrived back home at 7am the next day after Nevers and Valence this season,\u201d explains Maunder. \u201cThe six, seven, even eight-hour bus trips and then you\u2019re in on Sundays too. Not training on Sundays in France is a myth. We have our big review days and gym!\u201d<\/p>\n Vannes\u2019 British center Stephen Varney (L) fights for the ball (Getty Images)<\/p>\n Mako Vunipola has had a similar experience at Vannes where there is plenty of attention to detail, even if France tends to favour a slightly less structured game. \u201cThey are big fans of leaving no stone unturned. They spend a lot of time in the club; the days are long and we\u2019re in five days a week, including the match. The days aren\u2019t simple either \u2013 there are quite a few meetings and a lot of on-the-field stuff for a long time sometimes. In terms of how they play the game, it\u2019s probably a little more leaning towards players expressing themselves than it probably is about how we want the team to deal with certain things. Having to be in as much as possible, or training on a Sunday, has been difficult to get used to.\u201d<\/p>\n The gruelling schedule of French domestic rugby<\/p>\n The gruelling schedule in terms of matches, time spent training at the club and the travelling involved with a schedule that can see you playing anywhere from Thursday to Sunday depending on your league and TV games will eventually take its toll if not managed correctly. <\/p>\n That might be physically exhausting but it\u2019s mentally tiring not only getting to grips with the language but getting on top of all the micro communications you need on a rugby field. It\u2019s one thing being able to order a steak frites, it\u2019s another conducting a forward pack around the park or barking out lineout calls under the lights.<\/p>\n Read more: England fixtures<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI like to speak with the boys because I definitely learn a lot more outside of the classroom, just when I\u2019m chucked into the deep end,\u201d explains Tuipulotu. His favourite phrase is \u2018c\u2019est pas grave\u2019 which means it\u2019s not that serious. Chill out. A helpful one. It\u2019s not just the on-field comms that can be hard to get your head around as there\u2019s a whole host of life admin that comes as standard with Channel-hopping for rugby. Robson adds: \u201cThe language is a huge thing. At first, you\u2019re settling in and people at the club speak English. But then the day-to-day stuff \u2013 paying bills and pretty simple jobs \u2013 suddenly becomes difficult as you can\u2019t communicate what you\u2019re saying or what they\u2019re saying. That was the biggest eye-opener and toughest thing.\u201d<\/p>\n So if you like warm weather, tough rugby and fine food, France is the place to be. Even if you have to play late and realise nothing happens quickly. After all, good things come to those who wait.<\/p>\n Download the digital edition<\/a>\u00a0of Rugby World straight to your tablet or\u00a0subscribe to the print edition<\/a>\u00a0to get\u00a0the magazine delivered to your door.<\/p>\n Follow Rugby World on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter\/X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t
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