FOR THOSE WHO weren’t brought up in French rugby but end up finding their way into it, it’s a place where new wonders are constantly around the corner. The sport is the same – an oval ball, 15 players on each team, a thick book of laws – but the game there is different.

Eoghan Masterson has been discovering its joys this season with Aurillac in the PRO D2, the fully-professional second division of French rugby. The 30-year-old joined them last summer after being released by Connacht.

He admits he didn’t know much about the PRO D2 before but now extols its virtues. He has played in front of crowds of more than 10,000 on a few occasions, the Thursday and Friday night games are shown live on TV, former French giants like Biarritz, Agen and Béziers battle to return to the top table, and there is a deep passion in every club.

Masterson plays predominantly in the back row and covers the second row, but he has come to respect how highly valued the big cinq [five] locks are in French rugby. Everyone wants a Will Skelton or Emmanuel Meafou – a towering, bullocking second row who isn’t a lineout jumper buts scrums and mauls until the cows come home.

The Portlaoise man also has a better understanding of why some teams’ away records aren’t great. There’s the intense pride of playing at home, but now also the reality of hitting regulations regarding JIFF [Joueurs Issus des Filières de Formation] players who have spent three years in a club’s academy before the age of 21. 

For years now, Aurillac have punched well above their weight in the PRO D2, finishing higher than clubs with far bigger budgets. Jeremy Davidson previously worked wonders in Aurillac. They target their home games as essential and then sometimes use the away games to hit their JIFF figures.

“We wouldn’t play a lot of our foreign players for away games because we try to boost the JIFF numbers, which is an overall average for the season,” says Masterson, chatting during the midday ‘siesta’ in between training sessions in Aurillac.

“There would be some games where they send off 23 JIFF-qualified players to boost the numbers and that’s important for a club like Aurillac because they get money for that.”

The club were honest with him when he joined. They explained that they won’t ever stretch themselves beyond their financial means in order to get promoted to the Top 14. They understand that players will use the club as a stepping stone to be picked up by a bigger team.

“Aurillac don’t pretend to be something they’re not,” is how Masterson puts it.

“I obviously want to play at the top level. I’d love to play Top 14, I’d love to play Champions Cup again, I’d love to win trophies. But I understand that Aurillac are what they are. They say they’re a good club for progressing players and they don’t bullshit you.”

Masterson with his parents, Pat and Anne, and younger brother Seán. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

With two games left this season including tonight’s clash against Provence, they sit 11th in the league. They’re well clear of the relegation battle for another year. A few more wins might have had them in play-off contention. Another quirk in French rugby is that to get a try-scoring bonus point, you need to score three tries more than the opposition. For a losing bonus point, you must be within five points of the winning team. Aurillac have only managed four bonus points in their 28 games.

Masterson, who joined on a two-year contract with the option of a third season, has been loving all the new experiences in south-central France.

“At the start, it was daunting going into something quite different, down a division in the D2. I was mad hungry for it, I still have that appetite,” says Masterson who is also keen to continue his coaching journey having worked with the Corinthians U20s last season.

“When I got released by Connacht, I had to ask myself if this was something I could keep doing. I made the decision that I definitely wasn’t ready to finish up.”

It was February 2022 when Andy Friend told Masterson there wasn’t a contract extension offer for him. He had been a true stalwart for Connacht for nine seasons and it was tough to take.

Masterson has great praise for how respectfully and honestly Friend dealt with it, but it was jolting for him.

“Obviously, for me it’s life-changing, it’s like your whole world is falling apart. Friendy has to have those conversations with how many players every single year. It’s easy to look at it and think, ‘That’s just part of rugby’ but for me and other lads at the time, it’s not like that. Friendy is well aware of that impact.”

Masterson’s head was spinning. Would be able to keep playing rugby somewhere else? What would happen with his then-fiancée Lisa’s work as a nurse if he moved abroad to play? Did he even want to keep playing at all? 

But Masterson steadied himself. He recounts how Connacht coach Peter Wilkins, who takes on the top job there this summer, once taught him and the other players about the concept of ‘anti-fragility,’ essentially being resilient and viewing challenging times as a chance to become better.

When he started to get his head around it, Masterson was certain he wanted to continue his pro career. The problem was that there didn’t seem to be a gig for him anywhere. The months passed and no offers came in.

The Masterson brothers before a Connacht game. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

Then one day, his former Connacht team-mate Paddy McAllister rang for a chat. Masterson explained his predicament and McAllister said to leave it with him. Thinking no more of it, Masterson was surprised when his friend called back the next day and said Aurillac, where McAllister had spent a season, were interested. The contract was signed within a week.

It has worked out better than Masterson could have hoped. He and Lisa got married last August and she moved with him to the little town of Aurillac, where she has set up her own business selling cakes and baked goods in the local market.

Their French language is coming along nicely and Masterson has even done a few interviews en français. As he has found, if you’re willing to throw yourself into it and make a few mistakes, the locals will help at every opportunity. The weather has been better than expected, even if the winter was cold with some snow.

“People were telling me the weather in Aurillac is awful, but I was coming from the Sportsground. I’ve seen some things! I was eating my breakfast outside until mid-November.”

The rhythm of the PRO D2 seasons means blocks of four or five games on consecutive weekends followed by a break, so he and Lisa have been doing as much travelling in France as possible. They’ve already scratched places like Perpignan, Carcassone, Narbonne, Lyon, Bordeaux, Limoges, and Toulouse off their map.

So things have worked for Masterson after the initial stress of Connacht telling him they didn’t have room for him. He looks back with great fondness. Let’s not forget that this is a man who had to learn to walk again after a truly horrific knee injury in 2016, meaning he missed the Pro12 run-in that year. He bounced back impressively, finishing his time with 120 Connacht appearances.

He worked with outstanding coaches throughout his time in Connacht and says that Jimmy Duffy and Nigel Carolan were “two special coaches” for him. He’s proud to see them now excelling with Western Force and Glasgow, respectively.

Masterson got to play with his younger brother, Sean, in the green jersey and has many great friends who are still there, so there’s no resentment.

“I have no regrets about my time with Connacht, no ill feelings,” says Masterson. “I enjoyed how they signed off the departing players and acknowledged what we had done.

“I’d love to have stayed in Connacht and won 300 caps like Mul [John Muldoon] but it wasn’t to be.

“I’m on another path now and hoping to play for the longest I can, be the best player I can be, and reach the highest level I can reach.”