McGowan enjoying life in La Rochelle

AS Connacht face French galacticos Toulouse this afternoon, another native of the province will be in action in France today — 400km north in the coastal town of La Rochelle.

Sligo native Kevin McGowan has no regrets regarding his decision to leave his native province for this rugby-mad region in 2007.

“I was on a development contract with Connacht,” said the 27-year-old McGowan, “and I wasn’t playing as much as I hoped to be playing. I got in touch with an agent and, two weeks later, I was coming here to France for a trial in La Rochelle. They wanted to sign me there and then.”

Injuries aside, McGowan has been enjoying first-team rugby in the second row with local club Atlantique Stade Rochelais since. The speed at which McGowan gained selection for a (then) Top 14 team suggests moving to the well-paid warmer surroundings of France is an option many Irish players would explore. But ex pat company is in short supply for McGowan.

“There aren’t too many who (Irish players) go for the French adventure,” he says of a league where Lyon’s British-born Christian Short is the sole Irish representative in the Top 14 while Narbonne’s Brian McGovern is the only other Irishman in the Pro D2. “People often don’t realise how much of a closed shop it can be at home. There are only four professional clubs in Ireland and people might wonder why players leave but it’s not like with Gaelic where there are big clubs everywhere.”

French training practices are similar to Ireland, with one notable exception. McGowan revealed: “French coaches ‘lose it’ on a fairly spectacular scale at times — when they get mad, they absolutely freak out! I had never seen anything like it; it’s a bit like Ballymote Gaelic dressing room at times — kicking doors and beating tables.”

And as for the physical nature of the French game? “I’m only here five years, but I can already see a huge drop in the amount of fighting… In my first year here, there was a huge brawl in every game. I found the pace of the game faster — probably due to the weather — but as for the one-on-one physical contact, there wasn’t any huge difference.”

Eye-gouging in the ruck is a regular occurrence, according to McGowan: “It’s a disgusting tactic, but it still happens — it happened to me this year. There’s rarely a game where you don’t hear a complaint (about it).”

ASR were promoted to the Top 14 last season and were back down to the Pro D2 this year, giving McGowan a rare perspective of both professional French leagues:

Does the sight of some of his former team-mates finally coming to France for a Heineken Cup game evoke any desires to return to his native province? “I’m from Connacht and it’s my home, but these guys gave me my opportunity. It’s a lovely way of life here. I’d love to play for Connacht but I got my chance here and that’s it.”