“I’ve had no contact with England whatsoever. But it doesn’t surprise me. I knew by coming to France I would dent my chances. I understand Stuart Lancaster’s position, but I thought the move would be beneficial for my career.
"I don’t regret any part of it. Of course I would still like to play for England, but at the moment I’m enjoying rugby and learning all the time from these great players.”
That’s Steffon Armitage speaking; the same Steffon Armitage who on Monday was voted by his fellow professionals the second-best player in France for his work last season, behind Chris Masoe his Toulon team-mate; the same Steffon Armitage who has started in seven of Toulon’s nine competitive games this season, picked ahead of a host of rugby glitterati, and will do so today against Cardiff; the same Steffon Armitage whom Martin Johnson selected to play against Italy as a 23 year-old in 2009 before summarily dumping him for the next match.
Last week, ahead of a Radio 5 Live appearance by the entire England coaching team, the listeners were asked to post questions. Many wanted to know whether Armitage was in the mix for the autumn internationals. He isn’t.
“What makes it difficult when a player plays in France is that they are not available for our camps when we need them,” Lancaster said.
“We have got a camp coming up at the end of this month and we have an agreement with the Premiership clubs to have access to the England players. It is not under the IRB release window so we can’t get the lads who are in the French clubs.”
So, the best England-qualified openside operating at the moment is out in the cold. Again. Not that Armitage, born in Trinidad, is bitter about his initial banishment. Perplexed perhaps, but not bitter.
“Johnno explained it by saying that they wanted to go for more experience at the time,” Armitage said. “But I couldn’t get more experience by not playing. I didn’t really know how to answer that.”
A residual dissatisfaction with England prompted Armitage’s move to Toulon 18 months ago. He knew the area well, having lived in Nice as a youngster, travelling to Toulon to take part in youth tournaments and trials, before the family moved to Brixham in Devon, where his parents now run a Caribbean restaurant, The Pepper Shack.
“The old man wanted to retire. What better place than down by a fishing village where there’s no one and not much to do. I’m sure the kids will enjoy that,” is Armitage’s somewhat laconic take on the move.
His rugby education continued as a centre at Ivybridge Community College before Saracens offered him a professional contract. A spell at London Irish followed.
But it is at Toulon where Armitage has made his mark. “There are world-class players in every position [Jonny Wilkinson, Freddie Michalak and Matt Giteau are all international outside-halves at the club].
"Knowing that the president [Mourad Boudjellal] can buy anyone – will buy anyone – keeps you on your toes. That’s always in the back of my mind. Richie McCaw could walk into the club tomorrow.
“You know that you have to be at your best every single time. Even when I’m tired I keep running because I don’t want Bernard [Laporte, former France coach, now in charge at Toulon] looking at the video, asking, why didn’t you do this, why didn’t you do that?
"That’s the drive for everyone. Some people might call it threats or blackmail but it makes me want to push more.”
If the quality of the cattle is one reason behind Toulon’s success, the influence of the gimlet-eyed Laporte is another.
“He’s old-school, a real perfectionist. We tend to go over things a thousand times. His philosophy is that if you get it perfect in training it should come naturally in matches.
"He thinks the set pieces are key to everything. It’s quite intense.”
Armitage, though, is a bit player at the set piece. Knee-high to a grasshopper, his area of expertise is at the breakdown, forcing turnovers or slowing opposition ball down.
It is a skill he honed from studying his hero, the great Wallaby flanker George Smith. “I liked the way he played. He’s the same height as me [5ft 9in], and I loved the fact that when he was over the ball no one could move him.
"I used to watch him and then go out on a weekend and try to do the same thing.”
It is easy to forget just how innovative Smith was when he started competing for the ball on the floor. The protocols and interpretations around the contact area have shifted since but that ability to locate and latch on to the ball legally as bodies fire in from all directions is given to few.
Heyneke Meyer, the newish Springbok coach, ditched Heinrich Brussow, another celebrated flanker from the same stable as Armitage and Smith, because he gave away penalties.
“That’s pretty much Bernard’s attitude too. He leaves me to my own devices as long as I’m not giving away penalties. The trick is to listen to referees. They are all slightly different.
"You try something and if it doesn’t work you have to change and adopt a different tactic. Timing is everything. Some referees will allow the contest to develop for five seconds. Others will blow up.”
It helps, too, if you are somewhat of an oddball, a category into which Armitage seems to fall. He has lived in France for a number of years but claims not to enjoy French cheeses because “once I’ve smelled them I don’t want to go near them”.
Instead: “There’s an English shop in Antibes where we get stuff. It’s things like Nando’s sauces which I miss. There’s no Nando’s over here, no decent Bolognese sauces, no Snack a Jacks [low-fat crisps].”
It was all a bit offbeat, too, when Armitage finally met up with Smith over a beer recently. The two had locked horns three times before, in an England versus the Barbarians game at Twickenham, in a Heineken Cup match when Smith was at Toulon and Armitage at London Irish, and in last season’s semi-final of the Amlin Challenge Cup when Smith played at centre for Stade Français.
“Wasn’t it a bit weird going out with your hero?” I asked. “Yeah,” Armitage said. “But I didn’t tell him. I pretended that I really didn’t care who he was.”
By Paul Ackford
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk