Nixon: Bayonne was so good for me
THE ongoing dispute between Premiership clubs and agents over who pays players’ fees threatens to send an exodus abroad next season.
Premiership stars who were forced to take paycuts during covid, and with wages lowering after a reduction in the salary cap, are weighing up their options if they lose more money paying agents.
Players will find that the better wages on offer in Japan and France, where they have no salary cap, are more appealing.
But a move abroad might not be a bad thing for some players, as Exeter Chiefs tighthead Sam Nixon found out when he went from Bath to spend last season playing for Bayonne in the Top 14. The 25year-old made 20 appearances for Bath but started only two games. All of that changed when he moved to southwest France near the Spanish border.
Nixon started 22 of 25 games and returned home only because Bayonne were relegated into the Pro D2 after Biarritz back row Steffon Armitage held his nerve in a sudden death penalty shootout.
Nixon said: “Obviously, with things going on (the dispute), there is talk of more lads going to France. For some people, it could be the land of opportunity.
“I went from playing off the bench for Bath here and there and then going to Bayonne being first choice, playing a lot and learning a lot.
“Everyone says the money is better, but they have different rules.
“In France, they do look after you when you go out there. In the Premiership, if you move clubs, you are pretty much on your own.
“When I went to France, there was a lot of paperwork, and you need people who help you in the beginning because it’s not simple on that front.”
One area players have to overcome is the language barrier, and Nixon says that non-French speakers will need to be prepared to work hard.
“The language barrier at first was really tough. You have to make a huge effort. I did a couple of lessons a week learning French. As the weeks go on, you get better and better.
“You pick up more, and the more of an effort people can see you trying to make, the more they will step in and help.
“The rugby language is quite minimal, so when you start understanding that you can start to do your job comfortably.”
Nixon penned a twoyear deal with Bayonne and would have been happy to have seen out his time had it not have been for relegation and the interest shown by the Chiefs.
He started his first game for the former Premiership and European champions against London Irish yesterday, but says he will certainly consider crossing the Channel again.
“After starting as many games as I did, I got to the stage where I wanted to continue at a high level, and I didn’t want to go into the Pro D2,” he said.
“I had release clauses around relegation and when Exeter came along and offered me a route home, it was too good to turn down. But I was very torn, Bayonne were fantastic to me.
“If things hadn’t have turned out the way they did, I would have stayed happily. We were too good to go down.
“Would I go back to France? Yes, I’d have to think about it should it come to it.”