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Goode determined to embrace France

Thursday 17th July 2008

Andy Goode: Soon to be speaking French

Fitting into france's fiercely patriotic societies and multiple identities and cultures is a tricky task at the best of times, and a failure to do so can leave you feeling mighty isolated.

Andy Goode will have a support network of former counterparts when he goes through his bedding-in process at Brive next month, with Ben Cohen and Steve Thompson putting him up while he finds a flat, and former Saracens team-mate Ben Johnston is there as well.

He is one of a staggering 15 new players Brive have signed for the season ahead, and he may not be the only one to struggle at first.

But in a departure interview with the Leicester Mercury fly-half Goode said he was determined to embrace the culture, lifestyle, and language during his two years in Limousin, even at the expense of sticking with his comfort-zone English-speaking buddies.

"I have been out for dinner with some of the lads since I arrived," he said.

"Barry Davies is here and so is Alix Popham (both former Llanelli) and Ben Johnston is someone I know well because we used to play together at Saracens.

"Ben Cohen and Steve Thompson (former Northampton Saints and England) are also here and I am staying at the 'Chateau de Cohen' while I find my feet here.

"But it would be all too easy to hang around with these guys all of the time.

"I am here for the whole French experience and I want to embrace the French lifestyle and become fluent in their language.

"It's a big challenge and an exciting challenge for me."

There are two months before the exhausting Top 14 season begins for Goode to get himself and family housed and homely in their new town before he helps bring the club back to its former glorious level.

"Brive were one of the biggest clubs in the Europe ten years ago when they beat Leicester in the Heineken Cup final and they have been a sleeping giant ever since," he said.

"They want to push themselves up the Top 14 table and break into that top four or five and I am looking forward to that challenge."

"Everyone at Brive has been fantastic and I can't speak highly enough of them and how at home they have made me feel. I feel like I am wanted around the club which makes you feel appreciated.

"They have been making it pretty easy for me and my family because Brive is very much a family club. And the town is an awesome place. It is like a small Bath with limestone buildings. It is a very picturesque town and is only 90 minutes from the coast."