The PRO D2 is home to a handful of Welsh players
England great Joe Worsley has tipped Sam Davies for a Wales recall after another sensational season in French rugby’s PRO D2.
Davies has been a revelation for Grenoble this season and will be a key figure in the PRO D2 grand final against Montauban at the Stade Ernest-Wallon in Toulouse on Saturday.
The former Ospreys and Dragons playmaker has racked up 237 points for Grenoble this season and has spearheaded the French club to within touching distance of the Top 14.
Davies won the last of his eight caps for Wales in 2017 and is not even sure if he is captured by the controversial 25-cap law owing to the fact he did not receive an offer from a Welsh club before signing a new contract with Grenoble.
But Worsley, who is defence coach at PRO D2 outfit Brive, has kept a close eye on Davies for the past couple of seasons and believes the next Wales coach should seriously consider selecting the 31-year-old outside-half. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
“Sam Davies has been killing it for a couple of years now,” the former England flanker told WalesOnline. “People in France don’t understand why he’s not involved with Wales.
“From what I’ve seen he’s definitely good enough to play international rugby but you’ll have to gear up a team in the style that suits him.
“If you want a team that plays quickly without too much structure he’ll be fantastic but if you want a team which plays structured then you want Dan Biggar mark two.
“The Grenoble team really suits how he plays. He is an all-court 10 who is a very good kicker and also attacks the line while defending isn’t an issue for him.
“When Sam is playing Grenoble are a far more dangerous side. Sam last year was the 10 that was picked in the team of the season and he’ll be picked there again this year. His kicking has been phenomenal.
“Grenoble are a team who like to keep the ball in play and attack the line. He’s been making the right calls, making the right passes and running the right lines.
“When he doesn’t play they are not nearly as dangerous and I think they’ll be playing in the Top 14 next year which in large parts is down to Sam.”
Professional rugby is struggling everywhere apart from France which has three professional leagues, a bumper TV deal which blows everything else out of the water and packed stadiums every week.
While the Top 14 is the premier competition in French rugby, the second division PRO D2 is equally as compelling and is the home for a plethora of Welsh players.
Alongside Davies there is Welsh legend George North at Provence and experienced tighthead Tomas Francis, while former Dragons centre Tyler Morgan plies his trade at Biarritz and Owen Lane is at Valence Romans.
“Sam Davies from all the Welsh players has had the biggest impact rugby wise,” Worsley tells WalesOnline.
“Ross Moriarty has had a few injuries this year but last year he was in the team of the season in PRO D2.
“George North did his Achilles and had a couple of little injuries after he came back. He’s only played about 10 games for Provence but the head coach there is saying he’s the best player he’s ever coached.
“He drags up the whole team even when he was injured and he learnt French in four months. He’s been helping out with the youngsters and he’s just got fully stuck in, so his character is shining through.”
While Premier Sports have the rights to the Top 14 up until a few weeks ago the PRO D2 was not shown in the UK. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
But that has all changed after an ambitious broadcaster and podcaster named Tim Cocker set up a YouTube channel called FR-UK Rugby and bought the rights to show the PRO D2 in the UK and Ireland.
The deal has allowed him to acquire the PRO D2 play-offs this season along with 35 matches next term. Worsley works alongside Cocker and is working hard to make the PRO D2 popular in the UK and Ireland.
“I realised nobody was watching it and I found out the price of the rights was relatively doable,” said Worsley. “I met three other guys – one is called Tim Crocker who is a presenter who does the EggChasers podcast.
“I met him through a friend Dougie Andrews, who is a producer. With those two we initially got going and started making some content.
“James Lewis joined us shortly after who is an industry figure who ran Sky Sports rugby. We realised it had to be free and he also believes TV is going to change because there are so many subscription models going on.
“If you want to watch rugby in the UK you’ve got to have three different subscriptions to different channels to watch all the various rugby competitions.
“We will have a number of short-form and long-form interviews throughout the week as well as showing live games.
“For 18 months we negotiated with Canal+ and LNR because it’s a new concept and they were really nervous about it.
“Eventually we ended up with PRO D2 rights and if we prove the concept works we will be able to bid for more.
“Our ambition is to have games Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday because in France the second division plays on Thursday and Friday and Top 14 plays Saturday and Sunday.
“The PRO D2 is different to every other rugby competition in the world. The crowds watching those games are more than the English Premiership.
“TV deals are also going up and it is well funded. The top budget in the league is 22m euros.
“It’s very hard to compare to what happens in Wales and England because of taxes and how it works but put it this way the playing budgets are more like the lower half of the Premiership in England.
“One of the reasons the TOP 14 is successful is because there is jeopardy and loads of play-offs.
“You create these incredible moments where everything is on the line whereas in England and Wales there’s so many dead rubbers where nobody gives a damn.”
The PRO D2 is already the home of many Welsh players and given the lowly state of the professional game in Wales, more are likely to venture across the channel over the coming seasons. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
“There are big cultural differences so when you first come over it shocks you.
“The season is really long. It’s 11 months and because of that sometimes people switch off and they get encouraged to do so whereas in the UK we are always on it.
“It fluctuates the level of commitment and engagement in terms of training, doing weights and eating correctly.
“That’s one of the aspects that is different.
“If you’ve got a young family it’s an amazing place to bring them up especially George in Provence because Aix-en-Provence is one of the best cities in the world to live in.
“In France there’s a lot of flair and for some foreign players that takes getting used to because it can be very abstract learning about it.
“Some players struggle with what they perceive to be a vague game plan.
“It would probably strike more of a cord with Welsh fans because historically you did have a team which could play instinctively.
“You then went to Warren who had a very structured team but you’ve also had teams who play instinctively.
“Where Welsh rugby goes now I’d imagine they are going to have to introduce that side of the game to be able to have success.
“I can definitely see more Welsh players coming to play in France over the next couple of seasons.”
The PRO D2 final between Grenoble and Montauban is live on FR-UK Rugby’s YouTube channel at 4.30pm on Saturday.
