Rugby Union / Ralph Ellis / 12 March 2009 / Leave a Comment

At Betfair we wondered why more and more top rugby players are joining the exodus to play in France. It seemed like a good excuse to fly to Biarritz for some warm Spring sunshine and a chat with former England and Sale back row forward Magnus Lund.

Hi Magnus, so are you the envy of your old team mates for being out here?

I don't know about that but I speak often to the guys back at Sale and everyone wants to know how we're getting on. I'm not saying they all want to leave and come over here, but they are quite interested about what it's like and how it is progressing. And when it's going well I like to give them a ring and let them know that it's not too bad out here! The sun's shining, and I've been out to the beach after training today.

It's not bad is it? We were wondering if our Betfair editor would agree to us being based permanently here too.

It's a beautiful part of France. I arrived here last summer and it was brilliant, very different to Manchester! Although to be fair the summer was great, but the winter's been completely different. Everyone's been telling me how it has been the worst winter for 25 or 30 years, and the storms have just been ridiculous. In Manchester it rains, but it's just a constant and steady flow. Here it hammers it down and the storms have been crazy. But now it's Spring again, and we're sitting outside looking at the town with the sun shining down, and it can't be so bad.

So the lifestyle's great, but what about the rugby? How have you and Biarritz been doing?

We started reasonably well, and then had a big slump, and unfortunately I got injured at a similar time and couldn't really help out that much which was frustrating, but we've been coming back to form a bit now and getting up the table. We've set our sights on getting back into the Heineken Cup which is a realistic target, and we should hopefully accomplish that.

You're fit again yourself now?

Yeah I'm back again. I had a problem with my adductor, a muscle tear and problems with my groin too so that kept me out for a while, but I'm back and playing again now.

People back home say you're only here for the money. So be honest, what is the standard of rugby like compared to the Guinness Premiership?

It's definitely a different style to the Premiership, I think. Back in England all the games, week in and week out, are really intense and physical. Here some of the games are at a ridiculously high level - I found that at the start of the season when we were playing the big teams - but then some of the games seem to be a little bit lower intensity wise. Having said that I think it helps you improve your game. You are playing against big teams, difficult teams, and you have got to step up.

So has it made you a better player?

Yeah definitely. It's certainly improved my game. It's a different style of rugby, not quite as structured. Maybe in England there's more set plays, do this, do that in given situations, where here it's a bit looser and you can be more inventive. So it's definitely been a great experience for me to play like that, and hopefully I can keep learning and improving while it goes on.

Can that get you back in the England reckoning to add to your ten caps? You were left out of this year's Six Nations...

That would be great but it's not for me to decide. I'll just try to play well. Regardless, I still think it was definitely a good opportunity to get better as a rugby player, to come to France and play a different style of the game and learn. I think you can only improve if you widen your horizons.

So will the likes of James Haskell and Riki Flutey improve too when they arrive next season?

I think so because as long as you go with a positive attitude that you are going to work hard and get involved, and use it as a good experience, I think there's no doubt anybody coming out here will improve. Perhaps you could do that staying in England too, but it's about being more rounded.

It's much more a rugby culture in France. How does the game compare with crowds, and the passion of the crowd?

Yeah, especially in the South in a town like Biarritz rugby is THE main thing. There's no football quite so far South as we are, so it's good for me to experience that, and I've enjoyed being somewhere a bit less football dominated than Manchester was. It was a huge thing playing in the Basque derby against Bayonne. I don't think there's anything like that experience playing rugby union in England, that's for sure. The passion of the players, the passion of the crowd, it's huge. I guess it wouldn't be fair to say that Sale fans don't have passion at all, because a lot do go week in and week out and pay their money, and that's brilliant for the club and players, but it's so different here. I'm not saying they are more passionate but they definitely have a different way of showing it, and that is great to experience.

Living and playing in that atmosphere must add something?

Of course, because there is a bit of pressure. You know if you are walking around town after losing you'll get some stick. We lost against Bayonne at home so I learned that. It didn't happen like that in Manchester. We've got the reverse fixture coming soon so we will need to turn that round and get back on top again.

Given that you think playing here is improving you, what do you make of the word coming from the England camp that players coming to France will be knocked down the reckoning when it comes to international selection? That doesn't happen in football if somebody goes to play in Italy or Spain...

That's right. Football players have gone abroad and improved and still been picked for England, so I don't see it should be a problem. I mean that's not for me to decide - that's for the people in charge, and if they would rather English players stayed in England that's fair enough, but I don't think that should stop people coming abroad. Obviously it's a great thing to play for your country, but at the same time it's a great experience that I think will benefit players, whether they stay in France for a couple of years or how long. Hopefully England will pick the best players, and it won't matter if they are in France or England, but that's up to the England management and not me. Players will have to work out that if it means they might not get picked, then whether to go to France is a decision they have to make themselves. If when they go back they've improved well that's great for them and for England as well.

On the subject of England, how do you see Sunday's Six Nations match with France going?

It's always a big game, and I think it's going to be another cracker. France did so well against Wales, and they will be up for the game this weekend. But then England at Twickenham will always put a performance in, and they will be so keen to prove some of their critics wrong.

Discipline seems to have been the big problem for Martin Johnson's team...

It's tough for me to say too much because I've not seen all the games, but discipline is always a major part of any game. Sometimes the referee goes your way, and sometimes he doesn't, and you have to try and react to that and play the referee as much as you play the game. Of course it is difficult in the heat of the moment to decide what you can and can't do. I think England have to forget that, and go out and play their game, and then they should have more than enough to have every chance to win.

Thanks for your time - and your sunshine - and we've a free £50 bet in aid of your favourite charity...

The money can go to SPARKS, the children's medical research charity. And I'll try to earn a bit more money and put some pressure on my mates back in Manchester by backing Sale Sharks to win the Guinness Premiership Grand Final at [9.6]. I'd love to see them get into the play-offs and get through to some silverware.

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