Interview: Piers Francis talks leaving England and making it in Super Rugby
The Blues’ English first-five tells Jamie Wall about his against-the-traffic career move south, the upcoming Lions tour and what it was like being hurdled by Vaea Fifita.
Blues first-five Piers Francis is a unique character in modern rugby: an Englishman who moved to New Zealand to further his career and ended up playing Super Rugby. Since originally relocating as an 18-year-old the former Saracens Academy player has represented Auckland, Waikato and Counties at provincial level, made the Chiefs wider training squad and is now a fully contracted member of the Blues.
I sat down with Piers to talk about his journey from north to south, the upcoming Super Rugby season and a couple of memorable highlights from last season…
JW: How come you ended up in New Zealand?
PF: I came here on a gap year, just eager to pursue professional rugby. Over here is the Mecca of rugby, so it’s a great place to test myself. I went through the New Zealand system – club rugby, academies, age grade and provincial stuff – till I finally made it to where I am now. It’s awesome.
What made you choose here rather than Aussie or South Africa? Did you know people, or did you get some advice? How long did you originally intend to come out here for?
I believed New Zealand was the best place for rugby, not that I’d ever been here. I didn’t really have any contacts other than an old coach of mine who set me up at the Marist club here in Auckland. My parents had some friends who live on the North Shore, but that was it. Originally I’d said I’d be here for a year, but I’d been advised to stay for at least two to really give it a good crack, which in hindsight was the right decision because I made the premier club side and things really started moving in the second year. I got a chance to join the Chiefs wider training squad in 2012, which was the year they won Super Rugby and gave me a spot in the Waikato team.
From there you went back to the UK, but you ended up back here. Why was that?
I believed at the time I wanted to make my mark in the UK, so I signed with Edinburgh. At the time they were playing in Pro12, but I had a tough time there, to be honest. The club was in a little bit of upheaval, the head coaches left within a few months of me getting there. I don’t think I played the best to begin with, then I got injured. I was released and it only seemed natural to come back to New Zealand. It was pretty much like a holiday at first really, just playing club rugby and a bit of Auckland B stuff. But then I struck up a conversation with Tana Umaga who wanted me to play for Counties, which was just what I needed.
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Speaking of Tana, let’s hypothetically fast-forward to June. There’s been a horrible injury crisis in the Lions. All their first fives are injured…
Stranger things have happened!
…Tana’s named you in the Blues, but Warren Gatland calls and says ‘mate, we can’t fly anyone out in time, we need you’. What do you do?
Ummmmm… that’s a tough question. The Lions are the pinnacle of a European rugby career, so that’d be very tough to turn down.
That’s a very diplomatic answer. Do you keep an eye on what’s happening in the 6 Nations and the Lions buildup? How about from a Blues perspective, are the team keeping an eye on what’s happening so you know who you’re going to be playing?
Probably not as much as people think I would be. From a team perspective, to be honest, probably not either. There’s a lot of pressure on us in terms of the Super Rugby competition, so we’re taking that game by game. But as it gets closer it’ll build up, this tour will be huge and the momentum will mean we’ll have to start thinking about it.
I have to ask you – if the All Blacks and England played each other this weekend, who would win?
I would be pretty confident in my fellow countrymen to do the job. They are in a good space at the moment.
You played first and second-five last season, but the Blues have made a big addition to their midfield with the signing of Sonny Bill Williams. Does this mean we’re going to see you more at 10 this time around?
Ah, I hope so! Obviously Sonny has an injury so there’s a vacancy in that 12 shirt for the start of the season. We have a lot of firepower in our midfield, but a lot of guys are returning from injuries. So there might be an opportunity there for me, it’s the shirt I finished the last Super Rugby season in.
Going back to the Mite 10 Cup, you were involved in one of the great highlights from last year. What is your recollection of getting hurdled by Vaea Fifita?
(Laughs) Well he’s a big man! My impression of the situation was basically trying to tackle him but then seeing a big boot coming flying towards me, so I ducked and he completely bamboozled me. I think there must be a great picture of me looking behind and wondering what’s just gone on. I remember questioning the touch judge and asking “are we all allowed to jump over one another now?” Anyway, I appreciate his athleticism and the fact that despite making me look a little silly, people watching enjoyed it.
OK, so here’s a highlight that’s a lot more flattering. You were voted Rugby Pass NZ staff’s favourite player for this filthy sidestep against the Waratahs last year. How do you feel about that honour?
Ha, well thanks. I don’t normally receive credit for tries, because I don’t often dot down, but that’s very humbling. I was pretty pleased to get the try having not scored one all season. I did make a meal of it at the end though, probably didn’t need the last half-twirl.
You really broke Nick Phipps’ ankles on that play, and we’ve actually pinpointed that as the moment he turned into a rugby supervillain – spray tanning far too much, throwing people’s boots and shoving medics – how do you feel about that?
Good! It’s always fun to get an Aussie halfback’s knickers in a twist.
Spoken like a true Kiwi. Good luck for the upcoming season!
Cheers mate.
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
17 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
17 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
17 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
17 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
17 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
17 Go to comments