Kpoku hopes French move will inspire him
HAVING witnessed his brother Joel’s star performance in the Challenge Cup final, Jonathan Kpoku’s hunger has been reignited as he joins Federale 1 side Bourgeoin after leaving Coventry.
Injuries and off-the-field problems in Jonathan Kpoku’s personal life led to his two-year contract with the Championship club being cut short and the 22year-old is looking forward to a fresh start in the French third tier.
He said: “I basically just want to enjoy rugby again. With the injuries I’ve had and stuff that’s happened in my own personal life, I’ve stopped enjoying playing rugby. My mental health has been holding me back, so I’ve decided to drop down a level and go have a good time in France. If I don’t come back here, then I’ll stay in France and move up the leagues.
“I just think I haven’t been able to give it 100 per cent for a long time and if there are things that are holding you back that you’re thinking about you’re not going to be able to perform at your absolute best. I feel like I haven’t been able to give 100 per cent of me last season just because of all the stuff I’ve been dealing with off the pitch.”
The former Saracens lock played in every game up until Christmas for Coventry but, after tearing his hamstring off the bone, he has not played a competitive match since.
Despite enduring setbacks, Kpoku enjoyed his time in the Championship and is full of praise for new Coventry director of rugby Alex Rae. He said: “It was great at Coventry. As much as I had loads of stuff going on, I thought it was really good being able to experience a different environment and a different culture at the club and meet new people.
“That was good but as soon as I left the club I sat in a dark room and fell asleep the entire day. It was a good time while I was at the club but when I left it was completely different.
“I think appointing Alex is great. For someone who’s born and bred in Coventry basically I think it’s an amazing direction for the club to go into. Everyone loves him, he’s a great all-round bloke.”
Jon’s brother Joel, below, moved to Lyon at the start of last season and helped guide the club to a ninth-place finish in the Top 14 and was man of the match in their Challenge Cup triumph over Toulon.
Kpoku reveals the brothers share a unique bond and added: “We’ve always been close. We speak most days, if we don’t speak every day then we speak every other day, so we’ve got a great relationship. When he told me he was going to France I was gutted because I won’t be able to see him as often. The things he’s done up there, after coming back from injury he started playing unbelievably and that’s reignited my hunger.
It was like the hunger I had when I was in the Saracens junior academy playing and going back off to work or college afterwards. For me I just need to start again, I have to drop down a league, enjoy the rugby, have a good time playing not easy rugby but a level where I can think this is actually quite fun.
“The fact I’m moving only half an hour away from him is even better. He’s probably going to hate me because I’ll be asking to see him every day. We were always close as little boys and shared a bedroom before he moved out.”
Kpoku had the option to join fellow Championship side Ampthill but after deciding that would be ‘playing it safe’, the attraction of French rugby was too strong to ignore.
He said: “The team that I’m going to, they get 8,000 people on average and that’s like National 1. You start moving into the Pro D2 and you’re getting 15,000 people and then Top 14 you’re getting 20,000+. The levels of passion you get out there, which I saw when I went out to watch Joel play against Montpellier, is an amazing thing to see.
“I’m not saying that the fans in the UK aren’t passionate at all, some teams get more of a turnout than others especially in the Championship. At Coventry we have the highest turnouts for fans, the Boxing Day fixture against Ampthill which was a sellout with 4,500 people there which is amazing to see. I don’t feel like people understand how much of an impact it has to have full sell-out stadiums, they are basically our 16th
man.”