Catch this team of nations on camera
FLY on the wall sporting documentaries seem to be back in vogue these days so if there are any budding directors out there scrambling around for ideas, I want to make a pitch for a year in the life of Aurillac, stalwart and slightly eccentric members of the ProD2 for the last 17 seasons.
Firstly, the ProD2 is possibly the second most dynamic, exotic, multicultural, diverse, colourful, plain bonkers league on the planet behind its big brother the Top 14 and ten months spent following a team around la France profonde and encountering the other 15 teams – some famous and familiar, others obscure – in all seasons and weathers would be an outright winner for all sorts of reasons. Geographical, culinary, cultural, sporting. Cathedrals, castles, bars, beaches, cafes. Bring it on.
Past giants like Biarritz, Brive, Beziers, Colomiers, Grenoble and Agen – which you could probably find on the map – and of course everybody knows where Nice and Aix Le Provence are. But others might leave you scratching your head. Nevers, Dax, Oyonnax, Soyoux Angouleme, Mont de Marsan, Valencia Romans and Montauban.
No matter what, we would have that magical mystery tour element.
And of course who knows who we might meet on our travels. Is that Courtney Lawes and Ross Moriarty munching confit de canard in that rustic restaurant in Brive or was that George North and his former world champion cycling wife Becky James out walking in Aix Le Provence? And wasn’t that Jimmy Gopperth, 41 years young, teeing off at the local golf course on his days off.
Meanwhile there’s Jonny May enjoying a mid-morning cafe au lait in Angouleme and wasn’t that those two young Portuguese wonder kids at half-back – the two Hugos Aubry and Camacho – doing shuttle sprints on the beach at Beziers. Talking of beaches that was definitely Mako Vunipola out jogging on the Vannes promenade.
Loads of big or new personalities to see and talk to… but actually they would be the side show to the documentary series I want to see and that concerns the remarkable institution that is Aurilliac Rugby Club itself. For whatever reason – the local firewater, cuisine or just the naturally warm welcome of those in the area – Aurillac has always been a league of nations club attracting waifs and strays from across the rugby globe. Those who haven’t quite made it yet but still dream, those who did make but don’t want to give up. And those who are just rugby tragics and need their fix. All comers are welcome.
At just over €5m Aurillac have the smallest budget in the ProD2 – Brive top the list with €17m with Provence not far behind on €14.5m – and that has to cover operating costs as well as players but that penury has strangely become their strength.
They can’t afford top dollar, end of, they set their sights lower and scout out players who offer good value, loyal service for modest salaries.
It’s the reality.
Those who stay are grateful for the chance and those who are exceptional often get scooped up by Clermont – Aurillac have always been an unofficial feeder club to their big, relatively near neighbours.
Aurillac was seemingly home to half the Romanian national team back in the day but in recent years they have widened the net. For this season they have no less than eight Georgians on their roster – mostly forwards but two very tidy half-backs in Test players Tedo Abzhandadze and Mikheil Alania – and six of the best players from the Netherlands who are beginning to make good strides in the Rugby Europe Championship. Time spent playing in ProD2 benefits all concerned although there has to be careful negotiations with the national Unions as to when they can be released for possible Test duty. Aurillac cannot afford to be without some of there better players for too long.
Other nations are of course represented. South Africa, New Zealand, Romania, Ireland, Tonga, Fiji and of course a stack of Frenchmen. Their Espoirs are similarly diverse with a few young Portuguese and Zimbabwean tyros thrown in for good measure. The changing room must be like the tower of Babel although I expect French prevails. If there was any justice in the world the club would be sponsored by World Rugby but that’s much too out of the box.
That electric mix must make for a riotous changing room and social scene round the town when the match is over and it’s time to kick back.
I would want all this on our documentary. And more. The gruelling all night coach journeys back from distant venues. The singing, the banter, the defeated silence and groans of pain as injured players try to get comfortable. Stuck in snow drifts in midwinter as they crest the mountain passes. No planes for Aurillac and very few expensive overnighters in hotels.
Aurillac is in the foot of the mountains at 1800 feet, the winters are bloodyy cold, wet and nasty, but thee bars are snug and they are a very close community. No teams like travelling to their ramshackle old ground – Stade Jean Alric – and visitors rarely win there. A while back they went undefeated for two seasons at home in the league, their problem is that away wins are rarer than hen’s teeth.
The fans call a spade a spade and indeed this week the club president was forced to reprimand many of them who had taken to a social media forum to complain bitterly at the disaster that is their ground. I like that, they seem to care. They will get over it and I suspect the complainers will form a work party and do the repairs themselves. It all sounds wonderfully French and chaotic yet somehow they have avoided the drop for the last 17 years. We need to get those cameras rolling and discover their secret.
