MARK GASNIER may not be required to play for Stade Francais in his first week with the Paris-based Top 14 side, but he will still get a solid reminder this week of the pressure that will be on him in his new rugby career.
The former St George Illawarra rugby league star flew out from Australia to start his new life and football career in France on Sunday, the day after the Dragons were bundled out of the NRL finals by Manly.
He arrived in Paris on Monday afternoon to hear the news of an all-in match brawl on Saturday involving players from his new side and Toulon, who welcomed the arrival of Penrith winger Luke Rooney on the weekend.
Stade Francais won the round four road trip 19-13 to remain unbeaten and in first place in the Top 14 ladder. The Parisians are due to play round five against 13th-placed Brive at Stade Jean Bouin in Paris on Saturday. Initial reports were that Gasnier might play on Saturday, but Stade Francais's Australian coach Ewen McKenzie last night scuppered that speculation, saying: "I am not expecting him to play this week - just to get himself organised.
"I think he would like to play, but it is the reality. He has had a long season. Here they are used to the long haul and they realise he has already had a fair bit of work. It is not my expectation that he will come out and play straight away.
"There is some sort of recovery element, climatisation, organisation. I don't know how it will happen. It will happen when it happens. We will watch him at training and take it from there. There is a plan: to watch day by day and see where we go. Coming off the bench is the logical starting point."
By sitting in the stands and watching Saturday's game after a week of training with his new side, Gasnier will get a great opportunity to absorb the emotion of the home fans he hopes will adopt him as one of their own.
"There is a fair bit of pressure playing at home. I can't describe it. It is not like playing a rugby game in Australia," McKenzie said. "The crowd pressure, they are like soccer crowds … very vocal. There is a lot of pressure on the referees, a lot of pressure all round. Climatising to all that has been an experience for me … and I don't have to play."
McKenzie will use today - a non-training day - to sit down with Gasnier and explain the expectations on him as a foreigner in a French club, and as an Australian rugby league convert hand-picked by the former Waratahs coach.
"There is a lot to learn, a lot to pick up on. He has a lot to catch up on," McKenzie said, also revealing Gasnier has been privately working with Waratahs attack coach Scott Wisemantel in Sydney on positional play in rugby. When Gasnier arrived on Monday, McKenzie only got time to "chat" with his new recruit briefly later that night at a team sponsor's reception, where the ex-Dragon also met Stade Francais owner Max Guazzini.
Gasnier was unavailable for Tuesday morning's training because he had to undergo a mandatory medical check-up, apply for his Heineken Cup registration and his "carte de sejour" - or French residency card. His first expected appearance at Stade Francais training was for the Tuesday afternoon session.
