“People in the UK have the mindset of wanting to work as hard as possible, earn as much as possible so they can own a big house and a flashy car. Generally, in France, they don’t really care about that. The attitude here, certainly in South West France is I want to earn enough money so that I don’t have to work at the weekend and can go out to the beach and sit and have a bottle of rosé wine,” says Johnnie Beattie.
In January of this year, after a rugby career that took him from Glasgow Warriors to Montpellier to Castres and then Bayonne, ex-Scotland international rugby player Johnnie made the decision to hang up his boots but to continue to reside in France. After spending the early years of his career in Glasgow, now staying just a stone’s throw away from the beach, it seems a long time ago now that he was handed that initial opportunity at Glasgow Warriors.
“My first ever contract was an apprenticeship offer of £6,000 a year. It was £6,000 for a year of your life, but I didn’t think twice. I felt hugely confident and absolutely loved the fact that I was representing my own city. It was a great time of my life and a dream first job really.”
As a culture proud of its strong emphasis and values of hard-work, effort and graft, Johnnie is able to look back on his time at Glasgow and see the fundamental differences in behaviour and attitudes between the UK and France.
“UK rugby is full of very controlled, very professional and team-orientated environments. There’s a huge emphasis on values, culture and buying into something. In terms of professionalism, we were so well looked after.”
After being slowly phased out at Glasgow Warriors, a period of time Johnnie admits to finding hugely mentally difficult, he linked up with Fabian Galthié at Montpellier. Working under an eccentric Frenchman, known for maverick tendencies, what did Johnnie initially think of playing and living in France?
“There’s way more emphasis on fun. One word that comes up again and again in France is on se fait plaisir, which translates to we give ourselves pleasure. It’s about doing stuff to make ourselves happy. That isn’t something that is thrown about much in Britain or British rugby, the idea of going out on the pitch for pleasure.”
There was no better indication of that relaxed and laissez faire attitude than in Johnnie’s first pre-season at Montpellier.
“My first pre-season, Galthié took us down and said ‘let’s see the oyster catchers this morning. Let’s just scrap training and we’ll go down to the port. You have all worked so hard this pre-season.’ We had only been in training for two days! We went and sat out on the port, drank bottles of rosé wine and had oysters for lunch.”
Although there’s no concrete evidence or scientific study revealing why but, generally, it appears that in a French dressing-room there is a real emphasis on quality over quantity. A bid to preserve energy in order to offer a burst of passion and intensity when needed most?
“I’d say Frenchie’s during the week are way more relaxed in everything they do. Then as soon as a game comes, in the changing room there’s a switch that goes and it’s time to become aggressive. In the UK everyone works their backsides off the whole week and then before the game it’s more about how we calm down, get what we need to do right and execute it properly.”
This attitude is also reflected heavily within French society itself, one of its most important industries being a prime example: hospitality.
“Restaurants here, some of the best restaurants in the world but they open midday-14:00 and then open back up when dinner starts at 19:30 and the rest of the time is theirs. In the UK you’d expect a restaurant to be open for service all day. Here it doesn’t work like that, they think to themselves no, I need some time for myself. They are not interested in earning that extra 20%-30% of cash that people would take in the UK because they’d rather have time for their family or wellbeing. Health and wellbeing is more important to them than a few extra euros or pounds.
“I look back at my mates in the UK who are accountants, lawyers, junior doctors and seeing what they are put through in the British system they get absolutely slaughtered. They don’t have time for home life, for their kids. That is something in France which is almost sacred.”
You may be reading this and thinking that wine on the beach and selective restaurant opening times may all sound good in theory, but does it actually produce results? Well, in Johnnie’s experience it certainly does.
“I played the best rugby in my career between 2012–14. In terms of broadening my horizons, meeting people, that humanistic journey. I felt coming over to France you were treated like a grown up. Usually, you are willing to go that extra yard with people you get on really well with and who, naturally, you want to defend and work hard for.”
What is key to remember is that in a sporting sense, these are all individuals who are professional athletes. They all have a love of the game in some sorts and a desire to do well for both the team and for themselves. That’s why, Johnnie agrees, there should be more trust and understanding that players do know what will bring out the best in them come match day.
“You knew you had a job on the pitch, but you were told to go enjoy it, have fun but execute your job. Everything in Scotland was tight, controlled and strict but the stuff on the pitch wasn’t actually that organised. It’s a complete contrast to how it is in France. Again, I am talking about my experience whilst playing because you look now and the Scottish teams are really well organised on the pitch too.”
What, if Johnnie were to pick one thing that the UK could learn from France, would it be?
“Britain could learn to relax a little. Realise that you don’t have to work those extra hours. Put less pressure on yourself and spend a bit more time with your family. It’s quite general, but these things are very pertinent.”
Now, following retirement in January of last year, Johnnie’s attitude towards life appears to be very in touch with what he has learnt during his time in France so far.
“I always dreamt of finishing my career in France. Now, we’ve set up a French rugby podcast with Ben Kayser. Leading up to the 2023 World Cup in France nobody knows anything about it so we thought we’d share it. It’s quite niche but French rugby can be quite volatile and there’s always something to talk about.”
He concluded the interview, in true French style “I’m not wanting to tie myself down too much. I’ll keep my options open as much as I can and keep a good family to work balance.”
PSYCHEDIN takeaways:
Be friends with plaisir! It’s okay to take something seriously but still find it fun. It’s natural to think that these are mutually exclusive, but France and its attitude to pleasure reveals that it certainly is possible.
Quality over quantity! In France, there is a real emphasis of doing more but less. There is a large perception that it is better to do three or four hours of intense, quality work than eight or nine hours of work done at a lesser standard.
Invest in your own happiness. It is so easily overlooked but the more happier and content you are mentally, the more likely you will be able to squeeze out an extra few percentages in your performance. Find out what makes you happy and gives you an energy boost and don’t feel bad about it. If trying a new wine on a Friday evening excites you then do it. If you enjoy spending hours playing on your Xbox then go for it. If you like trying out different restaurants at the weekend then brilliant! Don’t think that having outside interests that bring out your happiness mean you are any less committed to sport. In fact, it’s the completely opposite, you are so committed that you invest your time in things you know will give you an added mental boost because you enjoy it.
