Bruzulier puts French nightmare behind him
NEW Yorkshire Carnegie scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Bruzulier comes with a playing CV that includes a spell at Clermont Auvergne, a Championship title with Worcester and a ringing endorsement from none other than Jonny Wilkinson.
Yet despite this and an eye-catching name that stems from having a French father, the Cardiff-born No.9 had been treading water at one of the less fashionable clubs across the channel, PRO D2 outfit Nevers, until Carnegie came calling.
For the 25-year-old, it was almost a case of Nevers again. “It was a bad experience on and off the field,” Bruzulier told TRP.
“My little girl was seriously ill, so I couldn’t train or play for a while, and the new coach who came in after the guy who signed me got sacked, brought in his own players and I didn’t get much of a look in. I just wanted to leave everything behind.” Apart from, that is, his relationship with Jonny Wilkinson.
Bruzulier trained with Wilkinson and the Toulon Galacticos while he was playing for Le Pays D’Aix in the early years of his career.
“I went to Toulon for a trial at the end of my first year, but my club wouldn’t let me join them,” he said. “They did allow me to train with them three days a week though. That was just weird. I was training full time with the first team, alongside the likes of Wilkinson, Giteau and Bastareaud.
“And then after every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday session I would do an hour with Jonny, where he would work with me on my box kicking and passing. It was just mad. The guy is a legend.
“It was fantastic to work with him. He’s a lovely guy and so down to earth. He had all the time in the world for youngsters and I learned so much off him.
“When things weren’t going well for me in France I dropped him an email and didn’t think anything about it but, out of the blue, he sent me a lovely reference which was really nice of him.”
Keen to be a part of something special, Bruzulier likes what he sees at Carnegie and hopes to add another Championship winner’s medal to the one he won at Worcester.
“I was thinking of totally forgetting about rugby because I’d just had enough after my last experience in France,” he admitted. “But after speaking to Jimmy (Lowes) and Steve (Boden – Lowes’ successor as head coach), I wanted to be a part of the adventure here.
“Leeds haven’t gone as well as they’d have liked over the last few years, but we’d like to push on; we’ve got good coaches, a good academy and a good environment to drive forward.
“I won promotion with Worcester and I’d like to do the same here.”
Although he led Worcester to the B&I Cup, Bruzulier was largely a peripheral figure at Sixways until injuries to Jonny Arr and Charlie Mulchrone thrust him into the spotlight.
The Saracens academy product rose to the challenge impressively, first in the semi-final victory over London Scottish and then played every minute of the two-legged final against Bristol, which the Warriors won after a dramatic comeback.
Asides from a shock loan spell at Clermont as World Cup cover for Morgan Parra, “an awesome experience”, things then went downhill for Bruzulier.
But he hopes the move to Carnegie can take him from Nevers-land to playing fantasy rugby again. “Already I feel that Chris (Stirling, DoR) and Steve are getting the best out of me as a player, and I’m just thankful to them that I’ve got this fresh start.”