Racing to a new level in Paris

HOME AND AWAY - Mick Carroll: Johnny Wattersontalks to a number eight who, having tasted the French way of life, is eager for some more

DOUBTLESSLY THE professional game has, if nothing else, injected a spirit of adventure into rugby. Where once every player was parsed by local school, parentage and rugby lineage, today's fusion of talent from all over the world makes for a more multinational game.

In relation to rugby, the global village encompasses the current professional set-up. While many players have come to experience the game in Ireland, so too have Irish players taken the chance to roam the playing fields of Europe. But not all have gone to big clubs like Leicester, Toulouse or Harlequins; others have settled for more modest clubs.

In joining Racing Club in Paris, former Blackrock College and Connacht number eight, Mick Carroll, has found a niche that is not exactly akin to dogging it out in a Bridgend pack.

Racing are probably one of the most famous clubs in France but the transitional period from the amateur to the professional game proved difficult and only now are the club trying to grow their reputation as potential trophy winners alongside fellow Parisian giants, Stade Francais.

Carroll is now in the second season of his contract having taken a traditional route via Blackrock College and then a professional stint with Connacht before making the cultural plunge into France.

"I played SCT in Blackrock, went to the club and played a bit of firsts and Under 20s before I managed to get a contract in 2003," he says.

"It was the year Brads (Michael Bradley) arrived as head coach. Looking back now I can see how young lads coming into the scene are very green. Back then I thought this is it; I'll walk onto the team. Connacht was very professional and my years there put me on the right track for training as a professional.

"Although I'd signed a two-year contract I wasn't playing all that much so I started looking around and there wasn't much in Ireland for number eights.

"A chance then came up to play in Italy for Padova. It was the first offer but then I also got one from Racing. I flew to Paris for a training night, met some alickadoos and had dinner with them.

"It was daunting but I was keen to go for it. They said that if I came over I'd be playing and that is what I wanted out of it. I could have easily gone back to Ireland, got a regular job and played my club rugby.

"So I took that. This is my fourth season in Paris. I arrived over in July 2005 with school French. The language is fine now but initially it was the most difficult thing. It is not a barrier anymore."

While Paris is no more than a two-hour hop to Dublin, what eases the day-to-day stresses is the many South African players who have signed for French clubs.

In Europe clubs are allowed only two foreign (non European) players in each squad but the South Africans and Pacific Islanders are not ranked as foreign players under what is called the Cotonou Agreement.

In Ireland, Leinster's new prop signing, CJ van der Linde, comes in under the same agreement. It has allowed a flood of players from the Southern Hemisphere to ply their trade in Europe.

When Carroll first arrived he also had the company of Clontarf's Dave Hewitt, who shared the house and remained with the club for the first two years.

"When I first arrived there was an English guy. But a lot of the French guys are also from the south, so they are away from home as well," he says.

"You tend to form a little family of your own and you become quick to realise that you are all in the same boat. Dave being there helped, made it a lot easier and when he left it was difficult."

The training ground is based in a suburb of Paris called Antony and most of the Racing players also live there. But for match days they travel from the southwest base across to the other side of the city where their famous ground, Colombes, still houses all of the home matches.

"Yeah, we only play on our pitch on game day. It's a strong tradition of the club to play at Colombes, which was also the site of the 1924 Olympic Games. They are very traditional in the club.

"They still speak about 1990, which was the last time they won the French Championship and around the time of Eden Park (an upmarket clothing label founded in 1987 by two ex-French internationals from the club, Franck Mesnel and Eric Blanc).

"Blanc is still involved with the club. But professionalism hit them pretty hard. Stade had the backing of Max (president of the club, the flamboyant radio baron, Max Guazzini) but with Pierre Berbezier stepping in recently it has got much more professional."

Despite being one of the glamour sides of French rugby - the club headquarters and tennis centre is situated in the Bois de Bolougne, not far from French Open venue, Roland Garros and they also have two championships golf courses and synthetic hockey pitches out near Versailles - the club became soft. Their spirit was distinctly amateur. But Berbezier's arrival last year after taking Italy to the World Cup, has been a declaration of intent.

"Sponsors have come in and the budget has been doubled. They are hoping to bring Racing to a new level, something to rival Stade.

"That has brought in more professionals to the club, a new gym, a new clubhouse. It could really now be compared to a soccer club. It has gone from a semi-professional to a totally professional outfit."

Carroll has gotten over the little French touches, the expresso, the cigarette half an hour before they travel to play a match and some of the old-world training they did that often flogged the players.

Now he has a season to run as the club further engages in its transformation and having tasted the life in Paris he wants more, be it in the capital or in the south. Currently engaged in a correspondence course with the London School of Economics, a few more years would suit nicely.

"We'll see how it goes at the end of the season," he says.