At the end of the 2017/2017 season, Steven McMahon was scrambling to continue his lifelong dream. His boyhood province of Munster had just told him they were not keeping him on, he didn't have an agent and there was little time to arrange an alternative.
Yet thanks to a little help from Bernard Jackman, he landed in the French second tier with Carcassonne. He's now playing week in, week out in a play-off challenging team.
McMahon spoke to Balls.ie's World in Union podcast, a weekly show getting an outside perspective on the sport, and explained while initially surprised he now understands Munster's decision to let him go.
Interview: 15.33
"Looking back, I didn't have a good academy experience. I didn't play a lot. I was really just a trainer, just a professional rugby trainer rather than a player!"
The decision to move abroad wasn't so much a quest to thrive in professional rugby but survive. A bid to overcome a difficult stint in Munster.
"When I was growing up everyone was slingshotting me to go straight into the academy and straight into professional rugby and then I just hit a massive, massive wall. I had two very hard years of very little development and it massively knocked my confidence."
One of the biggest differences McMahon was the rugby culture in France, something which was very different to his experience in Munster.
It can be really chalk and cheese. At times you are scratching your head on the training ground at certain methods, philosophies or ways of thinking. They are just so different to at home. Some parts are better and some are worse. Some parts of it helps players, for me for example. The relaxed vibe about the place really gave me a chance to get my confidence back. As I eluded to, I wasn't playing at all.
I was playing for Garryowen but I wasn't really cracking on with Munster at all. So I was a bit low on confidence when I went onto a pitch you were thinking twice about trying something risky. You'd just set in the gameplan, but they very much like you to crack on here and that was always promoted. The mistakes aren't always picked up here which drives me bananas in training but then it works to your advantage at times as well.
McMahon is now at home in France, routinely forcing his way into the team of the week. It's a move that has worked out in every facet, and one the former Rockwell man hopes can lead to one day returning to Munster.
#PROD2 #EssaiDuJour | J23
► Les joueurs de l'@USCXV résistent bien à la pression adverse, puis le ballon arrive dans les bras de Steven McMahon qui, par un geste technique remarquable, va terminer l'action dans l'en-but ! pic.twitter.com/6YWsT9ZEzb— Rugby PRO D2 (@rugbyprod2) March 6, 2019
To listen to the full podcast, which includes the full interview with Steven McMahon as well as a Champions Cup preview and analysis of world rugby's potential new trials, search 'Balls.ie' on all podcast platforms.
