JACKSON’S RETURN
Former Ulster out-half is set to land on these shores as his Perpignan side face Connacht
WHEN the draws for this season’s European pool games were made back in June, there was one fixture that raised eyebrows across the country. Saturday, December 8: Connacht v Perpignan at the Sportsground.
On the surface, it looked like a fairly innocuous fixture. The newly-promoted French side paying a visit to Galway for a pool game in Europe’s second-tier competition.
But there is one element of the forthcoming fixture that is sure to dominate the news bulletins and ensure a sizeable media presence at Connacht HQ next Sunday.
Paddy Jackson is likely to be wearing the No10 shirt for the visitors. If selected, it will be his first time back playing professional rugby on this island since he and former Ulster and Ireland teammate Stuart Olding had their contracts revoked by the IRFU in April.
Jackson and Olding were found not guilty of rape and acquitted of all charges at Belfast Crown Court after an eight-week trial that gripped the nation back in March of this year, but the emergence of explicit WhatsApp messages during the trial proved very damaging. Following an internal review into their conduct by Ulster Rugby and the IRFU, the pair were sacked.
They would need to seek gainful employment elsewhere. Jackson was linked with both Clermont and Waikato in New Zealand while a possible move to Japan was mooted for Olding.
The pair were also reportedly close to signing a deal with Sale Sharks in the English Premiership, but the move never materialised amid reports of pressure from sponsors and season-ticket holders.
After months of speculation, Olding signed a deal with Brive, who ply their trade in the French second division.
On June 8 it was announced that Jackson had signed a two-year deal with Perpignan. The Catalan club had just won promotion to France’s top flight and had big ambitions.
Perpignan were an institution in French and European rugby throughout the early noughties.
The club has secured the coveted Bouclier de Brennus seven times in their history, the most recent in 2009 when Jacques Brunel’s side defeated a Clermont outfit, coached by Vern Cotter and Joe Schmidt, to secure a first French league title for the club in 50 years.
The closest the club got to capturing Europe’s Holy Grail was an appearance in the 2003 Heineken Cup final against a star-studded Toulouse team at the old Lansdowne Road. Trevor Brennan’s Toulouse would leave Dublin with the trophy.
Those were heady days in Perpignan’s history, but the club has been in an alarming slump since their relegation in 2014.
They returned to the Top 14 from a four-year absence last summer but Perpignan have been doing it tough thus far.
The club are rooted at the basement of the league standings and have yet to taste victory in their opening 10 games. Their opening day clash with Stade Francais – who have Paul O’Connell and fellow Munsterman Mike Prenderagast on their coaching staff – was a stark reminder that this is a most unforgiving league.
Jackson fired over his first points for his new club after 10 minutes but that’s as good as it got for Perpignan. The visitors lost Sergio Parisse to a ludicrous red card, for leading with the elbow after he got a Jackson kick-off, just before the break but the 14-man Parisians would romp to a 46-16 win. Jackson would cross for a consolation try in the second half but all signs pointed to a long and arduous campaign.
Next up was a meeting with Agen – also tipped to struggle this season – but Perpigan would fall to a 25-23 defeat. Jackson chipped in with 13 points with the boot but it was not enough as the hosts secured a hard-fought win at the Stade Armandie.
Losses to Lyon, La Rochelle, Grenoble, Montpellier, Pau, Toulouse (home and way) and Castres have followed.
Barring the 37-10 defeat by La Rochelle in September, when he started on the bench, Jackson has been ever-present at fly-half for Perpignan.
Today, they welcome BordeauxBegles to the Stade Aimé Giral and Perpignan desperately need to start picking up points.
Jacksons’s side look destined for a return to the Pro D2 next season, but It may prove to be a one-season stint for the former Ulster No10 with a possible move to French heavyweights Lyon on the horizon.
French newspaper Le Progrés reported last week that Jackson is being lined up as a possible replacement for veteran fly-half Lionel Beauxis who is leaving Lyon at the end of the current campaign. Lyon have an annual budget of €29.8m with L’Equipe reporting last month that the club were tabling a €1.5m-ayear bid to lure Beauden Barrett to France after next year’s World Cup.
For now, Jackson’s focus will be on Perpignan and a return to his homeland next weekend.