It is surely the most unexpected transfer of the summer, due to its suddenness and its destination. “It happened so quickly, I never thought I would be in Ireland, at Leinster,” Slimani summed up at the end of August after his new team’s preparation match in Bordeaux.
The URC, which brings together teams from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy and South Africa, has never been a place where many French players express themselves. Over the last two seasons, centre Antoine Frisch, whose grandmother is from Dublin, has distinguished himself there at Munster, earning his first two caps with the Blues this summer.
But Frisch has returned to the Top 14, in Toulon. Slimani, 57 selections for the French XV, is therefore his successor as the only Frenchman in the competition. “It’s always cool to be the little Frenchy but I’m just waiting for March and Ireland-France to see what will happen,” laughs the 34-year-old prop from Sarcelles.
“You can’t refuse it”
“It’s a change for me. If I hadn’t done it now, I would never have done it,” says the former Stade Français (2009-2017) and Clermont (2017-2024) player. Going abroad, you inevitably think about it when you see foreigners coming to France. When you’re younger, you ask yourself questions: Am I ready, not ready? Now, the opportunity has presented itself and it’s something you can’t refuse either.”
An opportunity born from “a misunderstanding” with ASM. “When Jono Gibbes was Clermont coach, I signed a two-year contract as a player and then a one-year contract as coach but Jono didn’t stay,” he says. Christophe (Urios) arrived, I talked a lot with him, I had my season but we didn’t understand each other and Leinster showed interest.”
The Irish approach makes him think, especially on the family level with his wife and daughter. “I said let’s go! They followed me, they are also life experiences that you only live once.”
And here Rabah is, immersed in Leinster, four-time European champion and unfortunate finalist of the last three Champions Cups. “They were clear and honest. They know my skills in the scrum, they think about that too,” admits Slimani who has spoken a lot with Leo Cullen, the Leinster manager.
Reunion with Clermont
He, who validated his state diploma to coach last year, came to “pass on”, “bring my experience, even if in the Leinster team, there is half of the Irish team so there are some too”. With an additional challenge: to do it in an English that he is perfecting. “Of course, I speak English”, he laughs. “With their Irish accent, it goes a little fast sometimes but I manage to understand them, that’s the main thing. I knew the technical terms because I played with a lot of foreigners, I had foreign coaches too.”
From his first weeks in Dublin, Slimani remembers “the different and cool lifestyle, especially for the kids”, “the coffee culture” dear to the Irish. In terms of rugby, “everything goes fast all the time, everyone is ready all the time, training doesn’t last very long but it’s intense. For us, the pre-season is physical, we run, we run. Here it’s included in the training”, explains the prop.
Eager to discover the URC on Friday on the pitch of the Scots of Edinburgh, Slimani has the impression “of playing the European Cup every weekend between South Africa, Wales… It’s great at 34 years old”.
