'I've gone from Harlequins to Racing to Lyon to Exeter - four incredible top teams - when I could have been stuck at Scarlets playing for Llandovery'
It riles Sam Hidalgo-Clyne when he sees people frown at the sheer number of jerseys he has donned these past two years, a list of clubs so long you could bridge the Seine with it.
The obvious implication is that there is something wrong with the slick little scrum-half. He can’t be good enough. He must be unfit. His attitude is shoddy and no coach wants to keep him around.
But this odyssey of loans, medical joker contracts and short-term deals was a voyage Hidalgo-Clyne embraced. It was a bold quest for game time and fulfilment when his outlook was bleak. It took him to exhilarating places and some of Europe’s premier rugby teams… and his experience is all the richer as a result.
In the summer of 2018, he left his boyhood side Edinburgh for Scarlets where he soon found himself underused and unhappy. He wasn’t in the picture for Scotland’s World Cup squad and even had he been, missing valuable pre-season time would have wrought perverse damage on his prospects of finding a new club.
In short, he could sit and stagnate or get out and play. You shudder at the phone bill Tom Beattie, his agent, must have racked up in piloting moves to Harlequins, Racing 92, Lyon and now Exeter Chiefs where he has finally found a lasting home and a two-year contract with Rob Baxter’s English juggernaut.
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“I hear people saying, ‘Oh, he has had five clubs in 18 months’ but at the same time, it was my decision,” said Hidalgo-Clyne to RugbyPass. “I could have stayed at Scarlets and done the second year of my contract, but why would I if I wasn’t playing and wasn’t enjoying it? I knew I was going to Harlequins short-term, I knew I didn’t have a contract once I finished at Racing. I knew the risks of loans and short-term deals.
“But I have gone from Harlequins to Racing to Lyon to Exeter – four incredible top teams – when I could have been stuck at Scarlets playing club rugby for Llandovery. People don’t take that into consideration. Where would I be if I’d stayed? Would I be better off playing for Llandovery every weekend? Most likely not. It’s not like I have joined bottom six teams. My agent has done really well and I’m glad it has worked out how it has.”
Life in France has been hard, but rewarding. Hidalgo-Clyne’s stint in Paris during the World Cup opened his eyes to lavish riches he had never encountered before. Racing have a new arena of lights and music and mayhem, a cryotherapy chamber and a wine cellar stocked with bottles produced on the vineyards of billionaire president Jacky Lorenzetti on site.
It's been quite a shift of scenery for Sam Hidalgo-Clyne… from Scotland to Wales to England to France and now back to France again all since summer 2018 https://t.co/fCk7wcXv2s
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 5, 2019
“Jacky works at Racing’s training ground every day and if you have a couple of losses, he is in the head coach’s office putting pressure on. We lost once at home and drew the next game, and Jacky called for every player to go in and have a one-on-one with him. It was the head coach, him and me in a room, and I had to get Juan Imhoff to come and translate.
“He grilled us. ‘This is the worst start we have ever had to the Top 14. What’s going on? Where do you see the club going?’ If it wasn’t for the head coach being there, Jacky wouldn’t have had a clue. No disrespect to him, but he knows absolutely nothing about rugby – unless he sees you scoring tries, he wouldn’t know if you had a good game or not. We were missing a lot of key players to the World Cup, our average age was very young, but the expectations at Racing are still very high.”
Things aren’t so glitzy at Lyon where Hidalgo-Clyne has spent the past three months and earned more precious minutes, but the club sits proudly in second place in the Top 14. Pierre Mignoni, their truculent coach and ex-France scrum-half, has a voracious thirst for victory and an even more visceral hatred of defeat. As punishment for the beating they took from struggling Brive last Saturday, the squad had their week off ripped away. Instead, they have scrubbed the club gym and are facing a brutal spree of long sessions.
Hell of a win away to Pau. Much needed bonus point to get us right back in the mix. Looking forward to getting back home this weekend and putting in another shift against Agen ?? pic.twitter.com/KmZKmXjsyQ
— Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (@Hidalgoclyne) October 7, 2019
“If you win, it’s awesome. If you lose, it’s like somebody died. If we had beaten Brive we would have had the whole week off. Instead, the boys are in at 7am until late just to put pressure on and p*** them off. That just wouldn’t happen back home.
“The Top 14 is a tougher league than the PRO14. No disrespect, but when you come up against the Kings or Dragons, you are expected to win. Here, Brive are eleventh and came out and comfortably hammered us – anyone can beat anyone.
“As a nine, you have more ownership of the game plan and you’re more of a big boss. There are a lot of mistakes but it’s the ambition of wanting to play. You make a poor off-load, they can be under the sticks and the game is gone. That’s the risk factor, but it makes it so exciting because you pretty much know you can score from anywhere or off one little error.
“Back home, it’s more of a grind and defences are better. So many people fear they will get lost in France, but the lifestyle, the weather, learning a new language, the style of rugby – everything ticks a box for me.”
At Racing, of course, Hidalgo-Clyne joined another Scot blossoming in France. Finn Russell’s messy spat with Gregor Townsend, the apparent strife over the two-beer limit imposed by the much-vaunted squad leadership group and his exile from the Six Nations camp has not dimmed his domestic brilliance.
Mercifully, it appears some fences have been mended between fly-half and coach. “I spoke to Finn about it and ultimately he wasn’t happy with the decision the leadership group made,” said Hidalgo-Clyne. “He is part of the leadership group but he wasn’t consulted about that decision.
“I don’t know if that was forced from the coaches onto the leadership group. He had his own opinions, they clashed and he stood his ground on what he believes. As a rugby player, you want to go wherever you’re happy and he obviously wasn’t. Hopefully, they can sort it out because he is playing awesome rugby for Racing.”
Happiness is a constant driving force in Hidalgo-Clyne’s narrative. It is why he left Scarlets and what he hopes dearly to find at Exeter. He has been living alone in Lyon, with partner Sarah-Jane and two-year-old son Hugo back in Scotland. At last, the three of them have some stability.
He would love to add to his haul of twelve caps, the most recent of which came almost two years ago. But for now, it’s about repaying Baxter’s faith. Chiefs will soon lose their brilliant Australian Nic White and as one of six scrum-halves they were monitoring to replace him, the pressure is on Hidalgo-Clyne to deliver for the Premiership leaders. All being well, he will get started later this month, when his joker deal with Lyon comes to an end.
“Nic White was a massive asset to them but they have got some very good young nines there like Jack Maunder. I’ve got a bit more experience, I’ve got a good kicking game – I’m good at playing the game a little bit like chess, but knowing when to turn it on and have a crack. When you are behind a pack going forward, my attack game can be threatening.
“It’s hard to get consistency when you’re out of a squad or playing 20 minutes off the bench every week. I want to get that No1 spot, enjoy it and see what happens. I’m confident I can add value to the Scotland squad if I can get back in it. I want to become a better player, keep working hard, and see where that takes me.”
By the end of the season, come what may, Hidalgo-Clyne could conceivably finish up with a Top 14 or Premiership winners medal. The club-hopping is over. A circuitous route has ended in a seriously good home.
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Comments on RugbyPass
It 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.
25 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 🤐
13 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….
25 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….
13 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….
77 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!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 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
12 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.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to comments