Jackson to make debut in France
PADDY Jackson’s rugby exile in the wake of the Belfast rape trial will come to an end in France this evening when he makes his debut for his new club Perpignan in a pre-season friendly.
The match against Toulouse will be Mr Jackson’s first game of rugby in over a year, having last played in June 2017 in Tokyo when he won the last of his 25 caps for Ireland against Japan.
Mr Jackson and his team-mate Stuart Olding were suspended by the IRFU and Ulster Rugby shortly after his return to Ireland over rape allegations.
The IRFU and Ulster said in July last year the pair were being ‘relieved of their duties and obligations’ until the end of the process after they had been charged.
Both men were acquitted in March of raping a woman in June 2016. The two players had their Ulster contracts revoked in April this year following an IRFU and Ulster review.
Mr Jackson and Mr Olding are now pursuing their careers in France with Mr Olding set to play for Brive against Connacht in a friendly on Saturday in France.
Mr Jackson has become the main signing of the summer for a Perpignan side who have just been promoted back to the Top 14.
The acquisition of an international out-half and place-kicker was seen as crucial by the club’s supporters who, even by French standards, are regarded among the most fanatical in the country. Their home ground of Stade Aime Giral is traditionally regarded as one of the hardest places for visiting teams to win.
A crowd of around 8,000 is expected for this evening’s game.
Mr Jackson has spoken to French media on a number of occasions since making the move and the 26year-old has expressed a desire to move on from the much-publicised trial which ran for nine weeks earlier this year.
The Lisburn native, who made his Irish debut in 2013 against Scotland in the Six Nations, and who played 123 times for Ulster, told the French sports newspaper L’Equipe that he never considered quitting rugby.
‘It’s my passion since I was very small and it’s not in my nature to quit,’ he said.