Je ne regrette rien, says Racing’s Ryan
IT WAS one of the images of Ireland’s Grand Slam weekend that passed by largely unnoticed. The shot was taken in Paris on the day Ireland beat England in Twickenham. Donnacha Ryan’s large frame is barely contained in a plastic seat on the sideline of Racing 92’s indoor arena. He is photographed from behind, watching his old team-mates become legends in a match played hundreds of miles away. As a study in regret, it looks irresistible. A year before, Ryan had been monumental in an Irish side that ended England’s slam dream in Dublin. When he decided to sign a two-year contract with Racing 92 at the end of last season, his international ambitions had to be sacrificed. Bittersweet seemed the most charitable term for how he must have felt that evening in Racing, watching on long after an already-forgotten Top 14 match had ended, and his one-time colleagues became sporting immortals. ‘I was on the bench that weekend and had come on at half-time,’ he says now, recalling the scene. ‘Racing had a really good idea to try and keep everyone in the stadium, and they put the games on the big screen. ‘I was lucky enough to be pulled over by the drug testers and I was actually waiting to be tested at the time. ‘I was mad to watch the match so why not watch it out on the pitch with everyone? ‘It was a personal decision (to move to Paris) and I’m really enjoying it. Rugby is just one part of my life and it’s good to be able to explore the avenues outside of it as well. ‘You’d always love to be playing for Ireland but it has to end some time and it’s great to come over here and have a different experience.’ His start to life in France was complicated by the expected difficulties involved in switching cultures and changing languages. Club staff helped with the everyday frustrations, but a more substantial difficulty was injury. Neck and shoulder injuries meant it was winter before he made his debut for his new team, but since doing so, he has been excellent. ‘You want to prove Irish players are very hardworking and can perform at a high level. That’s what I wanted to do from the start and I found it frustrating, so when I got the chance it was nice to come in and help the team in any way I can,’ he says. He was absent for Racing’s visit to Thomond Park for a European pool match, but was excellent when his old team visited Paris in January, where his new side did enough to hold out for victory. ‘It was very strange, very strange,’ he recalls. ‘It was very interesting because you play alongside them and you know how hard they work, how they back each other up. ‘To be on the opposite side and see them in action, and feel how hard they hit, it probably just cemented my thoughts from beforehand: they are top-class professionals.’ He has plenty of those for company now, but his performances on the pitch have made adjusting to life off it easier. ‘It’s been going very well. In terms of life outside, I found the winter very, very cold. We had a lot of snow, and it’s been great to have the indoor stadium. The opposite end of that is that this week the temperature is gone up to 24, 25 degrees. It’s pretty hot. I’m struggling not to melt.’ He expects it to be hotter again in Bordeaux on Sunday, touching the high 20s. That makes the likelihood of a looser contest high, which in turn might appeal more to Racing than Munster. But in their number they’ll have a pasty Irishman of their own, determined to fight on, unencumbered by regrets.