Munster exiles O’Sullivan and Ryan warming to life in France

LIVING in the south of France: after the summer we’ve had, who wouldn’t do it?

It’s for that reason perhaps, that it could never have come as a surprise to hear that former Munster players Tim Ryan and John O’Sullivan are enjoying life at their new clubs Toulon and Agen.

“It’s a bit different to home alright,” says Ryan, in what could be considered the understatement of the year.

This is his first season for Toulon and while he’s yet to make his competitive debut – he played in several friendly matches at the start of the season – Ryan feels that the move has already been a huge success.

“I’m here to bide my time,” insists the Cork man. “The team is going well in the league and the competition for places is intense but I’m learning so much out here. I knew it was going to be tough at the start and didn’t expect to walk into the team. But I hope in the end the gamble will be worth it.”

To that end, Ryan has joined the right team at the right time. Philippe Saint André was installed as coach at the end of last season and the results are there for everyone to see. Ryan says pre-season training was an eye-opener.

“I was in shock,” he admits.

“It was very, very hot at times and we were doing 90-minute scrummaging sessions. We still dedicate whole sessions during the week to scrummaging and to be honest it’s one of the reasons why I’m out here.

“When I was growing up, the French league was probably the toughest in the world for scrummaging; the fact I came to scrummaging late at 19 years of age means that there’s a whole lot out here that I can learn. It’s a great opportunity.”

Ryan’s fellow Munster man John O’Sullivan is another to extol the virtues of French training methods. O’Sullivan made his debut for his new club Agen at the weekend and he says he couldn’t get over the intensity of the training.

“On my few days of training it was 35 degrees so it took me a little longer to get used to it,” says O’Sullivan. “But the club understood I wasn’t used to it and they’ve given me plenty of time to acclimatise. It’s a totally different game over here. Pre-season training is like a throw-back to the old GAA days in that we didn’t touch a ball for ages.”

While moving countries can be incredibly rewarding, it can also be a hugely stressful experience. Luckily for O’Sullivan, Agen have been brilliant.

“They brought me around to a few apartments when I arrived, opened me a bank account and got me in French classes three days a week. They’d even make sure that the partners (of the players) are looked after.”

Both Ryan and O’Sullivan admit they have had few problems understanding other plays due to the number of Anglophones in their clubs. “We’ve had a honeymoon at Toulon for the last few months as Philippe (Saint-André) will explain things in French and English but that’ll stop in a few months and we’ll have to understand everything in French,” said Ryan.