When Joe Schmidt sat down with Ian Madigan, he wanted what the IRFU wanted. That was for Madigan to remain in Ireland under their auspices. It was, said Schmidt, the best way for him to progress.
Madigan saw his career and life taking shape elsewhere.
By leaving Leinster for Bordeaux, he and Schmidt took different forks in the road. Madigan couldn't see beyond Johnny Sexton at Leinster. At Bordeaux he saw the opportunity, not the risk. Schmidt didn't get his way.
“The conversation I had with Joe . . . he made it clear to me that he wants me to stay in Ireland and ultimately it’s where we want Irish players playing,” says Madigan.
“The IRFU have access to you, they can manage you, you’re not overplayed, the fantastic medical facilities we have here, if you want to have mini-camps or if there are games outside the international window, they’ve got full control over that.
“That’s very important, and if I was starting for Leinster, there’s no way I’d move. I didn’t want to move, but you’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt.”
Immovable object
Madigan can look north and see Paddy Jackson’s progressing. Playing beside Springbok Ruan Pienaar, chance and timing were on his side in Ulster.
There was no immovable object in front of him and Jackson has made his ability and opportunity work. Madigan now sees a clear path not a log jam in Bordeaux.
Speaking at the Drop Kick for Your Club launch at Lansdowne he said: “Paddy has taken his opportunity really well. He’s got great speed, really good passer, top quality kicker. His goal kicking stats have been top of Europe this year. He’s proven himself to be a leader up in Ulster leading him to be captain.
“Am I envious of that? Do I want to be that guy in a club? The answer is yes. A big part of the reason why I’m moving to Bordeaux is because I’m not currently that guy at the club I’m in at the moment.”
Madigan is a planner. Having done a 12 week course, he now has two one-on-one French sessions a week and at home speaks to his mother, a fluent speaker. Although the Bordeaux coaches speak English, he believes as the outhalf fulcrum he should learn the language.
They are qualitative changes designed to make his life more integrated, his rugby better. He has asked Parisian veteran, Sexton, about the quirks and nuances, how to speak to the players on the pitch, what not to say and how not to say it.
“Johnny has grown up with a lot of the guys he plays with in Leinster. He can talk very directly to them,” he says.
“It’s water off a duck’s back at the end of a session. Maybe when he started in France, that same approach wasn’t what the French guys were used to and Johnny adapted.
“I know that maybe the arm around a shoulder might get a more positive reaction than barking at them. It’s been a whole host of things from moving house, how I talk to players, how I talk to coaches.”
Madigan will miss the short sessions Schmidt organises – like the one with new defence coach Andy Farrell at Johnstown House this week.
“I’ve seen plenty of presentations by coaches and it was probably the most impressive I’ve sat through. I was in awe in how he could just make you feel you wanted to get out on the pitch and start defending for Ireland. He’s a very clear vision of how he wants the team to defend. Ultimately me playing for Ireland is everything,” he says. “I feel if I stay where I am at the moment I don’t deserve that.”
Really, there was no choice.
