Rugby: Gillies Racing ahead with French lessons in bid for Scotland cap

Edinburgh teenager Fraser Gillies admits his appetite for a professional rugby career has been sharpened just three months into an initial one year stint at crack French club, Racing Metro.

Stand off Gillies is currently back home from Paris during a one-week break in the French season and says the move is, so far, fulfilling his hopes of one day pulling on the dark blue jersey he has already worn when captaining Scotland under-17s.

"I always fancied the idea of playing abroad after I left Edinburgh Academy and with the help of a friend who acted as a translator sent my cv to a string of French clubs.

"Racing Metro invited me for a trial which seemed to go well when they offered me the chance to train and play with their under-19s. So far I've played half a dozen games at that level. I'm eligible for Scotland under-20s for the next two years and while I'd love to be considered it's not a deal breaker.

"I'm trying to plan long term with the hope that challenging myself in French rugby will make me a better player.

"To begin with I wondered what I was doing when I struggled to add to my basic grasp of French. But my morning schedule comprises language lessons every day and just recently I found myself sufficiently improved to be conducting a decent conversation in French; the more I learn the language the easier it is becoming to control a game from stand off by communicating with those around me.

"My next step is to try to get game-time with the under-23s some of whom have stepped up to the top team."

Famous names abound at Metro including Springbok World Cup winner Francois Steyn, French skipper Lionel Nallet and Gallic rugby icon Sebastien Chabal.

Gillies added: "There is a real club feel about Racing Metro with everybody using the same facilities. Also, there's a huge amount to be learned just from watching the top team train.

"Only the other week I found myself in the treatment room alongside Francois Steyn and Sebastien Chabal and in that environment you are always going to pick up hints that can make you a better player."

Whether Gillies returns to France next season remains to be seen and he maintains his options are wide open, rugby-wise. But last season's Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools Cup-winning captain believes he is learning from the variety of training he is exposed to.

"There are three gym sessions a week but also a significant emphasis on speed and agility.

"That reflects the style of rugby the French like to play which is very fast and open.

"With the ball being moved through the hands so much I find myself doing a lot less kicking."At under-19 level French rugby is divided into four groups of ten teams and Racing are drawn alongside the likes of Clermont Auvergne and Stade Francais in competing for a place in national play-offs.

"I've applied for a university place back home but for the moment all my options remain open especially as once you have a taster of the type of rugby life I'm experiencing at Racing Metro you definitely want more."

Who knows, Scottish rugby could soon have a successor to the recently retired Phil Fitzgerald who went over from Edinburgh to Toulon to study and found himself at the heart of a crack side including leading All Blacks like Dan Carter and Springboks such as Victor Matfield on the way to a Scotland A cap.