Exile Zach is next French revelation
ENGLISH Rugby, or rather the RFU and Premiership Rugby, have a peculiar relationship with French club rugby seemingly fuelled by mistrust and occasionally downright hostility.
Players brave enough or good enough to roll up their sleeves in the Top 14 are treated with suspicion – misfits or malcontents – and sent to Coventry in terms of Test rugby.
Which, in turn, means those Englishmen venturing across the Channel tend to be adventurers or angry odd balls, those who have been overlooked by the England system or, in the case of Jonny Wilkinson, those looking for an Indian summer end to their career although his sojourn in Toulon turned into so much more than that.
Les jouer des rugby anglais have nonetheless, the latest being Zach Mercer who by common consent was man of the match for Montpellier in their recent Top 14 Final win over Castres at the Stade de France. Mercer is also virtually the first name down in most French pundits’ Top 14 team of the season.
As any Rec regular will confirm, Mercer virtually carried the Bath pack for five seasons, which immediately became evident in his absence last season, and his two caps in 2018 as a replacement against the Boks and a start against Japan was a scandalously scant return for such an outstanding talent. His fast running handling game didn’t find favour with Eddie Jones – heaven knows why not – and with the writing on the wall he took the decision to join Philippe Saint-Andre’s team in Montpellier.
Great call. Saint-Andre may have struggled when coaching the French national team but he is a master of rebuilding underperforming club sides or laying the foundations as his spells at Gloucester, Sale and Toulon demonstrated. Mercer was in safe hands, he would be given his head and a chance to work off his frustration.
The market leaders in angry men who ventured down to France and did their talking on the field are probably the Armitage brothers, Steffon and Delon. Despite stellar performances for London Irish and showing up pretty well in retrospect on their occasional England performance, they found themselves outside the fold.
Both were unfairly labelled as members of the awkward squad and with England not really appreciating the growing importance of the jackal and turnover possession it was Steffon who jumped ship first and joined Toulon who at that stage were not the winning machine they were quickly to become.
Steffon was absolutely brilliant for Toulon, second only to Jonny, as a cult figure down at Stade Felix Mayol. The diminutive but power packed flanker made over 160 appearances, starred in three Heineken Cup-winning seasons and the 2014 Top 14 title and won the European player of year award when they did that double.
Brother Delon jetted in a year after Steffon and played a full part in all those triumphs even if, with various injury problems, he wasn’t quite so omnipresent. Even so, in an increasingly star studded back division gathered from all four corners of the globe, he was often the standout back three player.
There must be something in the air at Toulon. Who in all honesty forecast the glories that were to await Jonny when he shocked the world and signed on the dotted line in 2009. If his body kept breaking down in the Premiership what chance did he have of surviving in the Top 14. Anyway good luck to him we muttered, he deserves a swansong in the sun.
Of course, Jonny saw it differently. He was feeling healthier and down on the Med that healing process was completed. The fires were still burning and he went to work, firstly on his own game, and then Toulon generally. He forged the template, re-energised the club and the rest is history.
And then there was Chris Ashton, the malcontent of English rugby. Reading the tea leaves and feeling he was surplus to requirements for England he left Saracens in 2017 yet in his one season for Toulon, he scored a Top 14 record of 24 tries.
There are others. Nick Abendanon is another who had the England door slammed in his face and after eight years with Bath his response was to sign for Clermont where he became a fixture in one of the great teams of European Rugby. Like Armitage, he got voted European player of the year one season.
David Strettle, another England “reject” was nearly as big a crowd favourite at Stade Michelin while former Cambridge University flanker Richard Poole Jones played his entire senior career in France with Biarritz and Stade Francais and played in the classic 2001 European Cup Final when
Stade lost 34-30 to Leicester Tigers. As a vice president of the club he also played an important role in brokering a deal that staved off possible bankruptcy in 2011.
At Biarritz, there were another couple of Brits who made a good impact. Iain Balshaw was another who struggled with injuries but when fully fit lit up the Biarritz backline while Magnus Lund was the most reliable of soldiers in the back row. Both appeared in the 2010 Heineken Cup Final when they lost 21-19 to Toulouse at Stade de France.
On the bench that night was Andy Goode, prolific wherever he played and finished as the second highest points scorer in the 2008-9 Top 14 season for Brive.
Another Brive stalwart for four seasons was Jamie Noon who produced the best rugby of his career with the club after his England career ended in 2009.
And that third Englishman at the 2010 final? That would be Ayoola Erinle – a gold star if you got that one.