{"id":501091,"date":"2026-03-29T02:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T02:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/501091\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T02:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T02:24:09","slug":"toulons-english-no12-who-idolises-nonu-but-didnt-recognise-wilkinson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/501091\/","title":{"rendered":"Toulon\u2019s \u2018English\u2019 No12 who idolises Nonu but didn\u2019t recognise Wilkinson"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is not rare for an Englishman to play at Toulon. Think Jonny Wilkinson, Andrew Sheridan, Simon Shaw, and Steffon and Delon Armitage in the days the club dominated Europe between 2013 and 2015. And think Kyle Sinckler, Lewis Ludlam, David Ribbans and Zach Mercer in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

Oliver Cowie, though, is different, because he could play for France. The 20-year-old centre was born near Saint-Tropez to English parents who emigrated to the area before he was born. This has been his breakthrough season with Toulon, playing ten times in the Top 14 and once in the European Cup, against Gloucester at Kingsholm in the pool stage, sometimes in the same match-day squad as Ma\u2019a Nonu, 43, whose Test debut in 2003 came two years before he was born. <\/p>\n

Cowie supported England growing up, but has represented France\u2019s under-20 side, playing against Henry Pollock at the Rec during the junior Six Nations last year. He never really thought to apply for a French passport, which he has always been entitled to, until he made the Toulon academy as a teenager. It is a helpful travel document in post-Brexit times, but also means he can represent the France senior side. As a resident since birth, he has long qualified on World Rugby grounds but in France to represent\u00a0Les Bleus\u00a0you must be a citizen of the country as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, in time, that could open up the potential of a difficult choice for Cowie. France, or England? \u201cThat\u2019s an interesting one. I\u2019ve been asked this question a lot by friends and family. I\u2019ve always answered, \u2018You\u2019ve got to be good enough first,\u2019\u200a\u201d Cowie says.<\/p>\n

\"OliverCowie won the U20 Six Nations with France last year, finishing above an England team that included PollockSandra Ruhaut\/Icon Sport\/Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, for now, I\u2019m focusing on Toulon and I\u2019m trying to get my level up here. You\u2019ve got two sides to it; you\u2019ve got the French side where I\u2019ve grown up here, but then, when I watch an England match I do edge on England, unless I\u2019m playing myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you grow up cheering for England there\u2019s a big rivalry with the French. Then I played with the French under-20s against England, and you see the other side of it. When you\u2019re on the pitch, you want to smash them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to only feel English up until about 15. But at 15, that\u2019s when I joined the French academy, and from then that\u2019s where I got my French passport and my French nationality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d have been able to get it anyway, but before that I never kind of saw the purpose of getting it. You\u2019ve always got that part of English in you, but the fact that you have to play in England to be eligible is a tough one. Who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OliverThe centre enjoys the rural life in France and is fluent in the language but says he still supports England \u2014 unless he is playing against themSandra Ruhaut\/Icon Sport\/Getty<\/p>\n

Cowie\u2019s father, Jamie, is a physiotherapist from Devon, and his mother, Giselle, was an accountant from Kingston upon Thames. They would go on holidays to Port Grimaud \u2014 \u201cthe Venice of the French Riviera\u201d \u2014 a 15-minute drive from Saint-Tropez, on the Cote d\u2019Azur between Cannes and Toulon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a village; calm, which I\u2019ve always loved, and kind of rural,\u201d Cowie says. \u201cIt\u2019s not an everyday kind of paradise, as you\u2019ll have school and other stuff to go to, but it was always nice going to the beach on weekends. Family from England would come down quite often, and you\u2019d go to the beach and you\u2019d see how special it was for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does become your day-to-day life but, for them, every time it was like, \u2018Oh my God, this is where you live?\u2019\u200a\u201d<\/p>\n

Cowie\u2019s parents had bought a house in the village of Grimaud when they emigrated to France and had three children, William, Oliver and Jessica, before Giselle died ten years ago, around the time that William and Oliver took up junior rugby.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always been a sporty family, so I used to do tennis and judo, and at eight years old my dad wanted me and my brother to start rugby because he used to play for Roehampton,\u201d Cowie says. \u201cI was dreading my first session. I was bawling my eyes out. I just didn\u2019t want to go, and he was like, \u2018Just do one session. If you don\u2019t like it, you don\u2019t have to do it again\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just running around all over the place, scoring a load of tries, and had so much fun and I haven\u2019t stopped. So I\u2019m very happy my dad forced me into that first session.\u201d<\/p>\n

One embarrassing moment came soon after, though, when Wilkinson visited Cowie\u2019s club at the height of Toulon\u2019s \u201cgalactico\u201d era.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so young, I didn\u2019t recognise Jonny,\u201d Cowie says. \u201cMy dad obviously did and talked to him, and oh my god, I was like \u2018I\u2019ve never just done that!\u2019 My dad was like, \u2018Ollie, that was him!\u2019 I thought it was the scrum half S\u00e9bastien Tillous-Borde. I don\u2019t know why I confused them!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SebastienCowie confused Tillous-Borde, left, with England\u2019s World Cup-winning hero Wilkinson, rightJulien Behal\/PA<\/p>\n

Cowie was only 14 when the Covid pandemic began in 2020 and he joined the Toulon academy, having been spotted representing the wider Var region. Now, six years on, as a fluent French speaker, he helps stars of the world game with English translations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of English and French players, so I help out when I can,\u201d Cowie says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got [France prop] Daniel Brennan, who has an Irish family, so he helps out a lot too. But it\u2019s always good when someone has a little translation problem to be able to help out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey separate the players into two groups, the more experienced French and the less experienced, and make them do lessons, which I always thought was tough, but also quite good just to get them talking French. Some players get the hang of it a lot quicker than the others. Dan Biggar took up French stupidly quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cowie still pinches himself when he lines up with Nonu, who re-joined the club last year having left for the United States in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up around rugby, you know who Ma\u2019a Nonu is,\u201d Cowie says. \u201cI idolised him, especially being a centre, so when I knew he was going to sign again I was like, \u2018This is going to be awesome\u2019.\u200a<\/p>\n

\"RUGBYU-EUR-CUP-TOULON-SALE\"Playing alongside the big-hitting Nonu is a dream come true for CowieAFP\/CHRISTOPHE SIMON<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing how much you can learn from him, whether it\u2019s on the field or off the field. How he prepares for sessions, matches, and just little habits you can pick up, whether it\u2019s just his passing technique or just what to look at on the field. Or even just the mentality of how to think on the field, which he\u2019s got from years of experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very aware I need to make the most of being around him, because it\u2019s nuts, the guy\u2019s 43, coming on 44 in May, and is still playing professional rugby and in the gym being the biggest guy there, working the hardest. It\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A tall, 6ft 4in centre himself, Cowie could hardly be at a better place to develop into a top-class midfielder. Much can change, but at this point you feel it is more likely he ends up being a French\u00a0rosbif\u00a0 Englishman, than England\u2019s answer at No12 via France.<\/p>\n

Toulon v Stormers<\/p>\n

Investec Champions Cup
Saturday, April 4,
Kick-off 3pm
TV Premier Sports 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is not rare for an Englishman to play at Toulon. Think Jonny Wilkinson, Andrew Sheridan, Simon Shaw,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-501091","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}