Fogarty’s joie de vivre at Aurillac

As you would expect from a player just named in his division’s team of the month, life is pretty sweet right now for former Munster hooker Denis Fogarty.

In fact, the way he feels about things now, that day last summer, when he stood bewildered in the middle of a French training pitch, could be light years ago.

Fresh off the plane and embarking on a new chapter in his life and professional rugby career after eight seasons and 91 appearances for his native province, the hooker began his first day at Aurillac feeling “worthless”, hampered by his inability to speak the language and pondering why he’d been so foolish as to leave Ireland.