Le Bugue's Welsh outside-half Tomas Marks talks to Le Rugby about a season in France that offered new experiences on and off the field

When we started following Le Bugue's Federale 1 campaign back in August, we had no idea how exciting the season would be. It all looked so bad for a while - the Dordogne outfit had lost their first six games, one coach to illness and another to Brive, and seemed unlikely to retain their place in French rugby's third tier.

Come the end of the season, and les Chevaliers had succeded in staying up and picking up a piece of silverware along the way. The club's outside-half, leading points scorer and resident Welshman Tomas Marks talked to Le Rugby about his first season in France.

Marks joined Le Bugue from Welsh Premiership side Llandovery last summer, establishing himself as first-choice fly-half and ending the season with an impressive tally of 222 points from 24 appearances (with 22 starts) including three tries, 38 penalties, 45 conversions and a dropped goal.

But there was no easy start to life in France for Tomas and his teammates - Le Bugue lost their first six games in Federale 1, and things came to a head after an abject home defeat to lowly Graulhet.

"We started off slowly mainly because we were a new squad with lots of different nationalities and it took us a while to gel together," says Marks of the team which had seen no fewer that 18 new arrivals in the close season and which rival sides saw as a potential threat once they started firing.

"I was speaking to players and the coach from [pool winners] Tyrosse and they wanted to play us early because we were a new squad.

"It's a multinational squad and it took a while to get used to the calls and team patterns and what the coach wanted. After we lost to Graulhet at home we had a big chat in the changing room and sorted things out. That was enough, and once we got that first win it got progressively easier."

The battle from then on was to earn enough points to take into the 'play-down' stage and avoid the drop to Federale 2. Le Bugue had to wait until the last match of the regular season to retain their Federale 1 place, but 26-year-old Marks was never in doubt that they would stay up.

"I knew the players we had in the squad had quality so I wasn't worried," he says confidently.

Once they had sealed their first win - an 18-7 defeat of Lourdes which Marks rounded off by scoring his first try of the season - Le Bugue picked up four wins from six games and were still in with a chance of making the end-of-season promotion play-offs before falling to a narrow last-day defeat at Lourdes.

Another four wins from six saw Les Chevaliers retain their Federale 1 place before bowing out in the quarter-finals of the league's consolation 'play-down' tournament, a nine-hour cross-country coach trip to Dijon proving too much as the blue-and-whites fell to a 46-5 defeat - "travelling is a bit of a nightmare," Marks laughs.

Coupe de grace

Despite an indifferent league campaign, Le Bugue did manage to pick up some silverware in the shape of the mid-season Coupe de l'Esperance. Marks kicked eight conversions as they hammered Mazamet 61-3 in the semi-final before they beat Saint-Medard-en-Jalles 36-16 in the final, one of the few matches the Welshman missed as he was rested ahead of a crucial league tie the following weekend.

With teammates coming from as far afield as Algeria, Georgia, Argentina, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and Germany as well as France, communications could have been a problem. But despite knowing only a little French before arriving in the Dordogne, a piece of advice from an England international and fellow Brive resident proved invaluable to the former Wales under-19 international.

"I had several lessons from a French teacher before I left and picked up minimal French, the 'bonjour, comment ca va, quelle age a tu' sort of thing," he jokes. "But when I arrived, one of the first people I bumped into in Brive was Steve Thompson and I asked him for advice. He said just get stuck in with the language so I did.

"When I arrived I thought everyone would speak English but not at all, it's an obligation to speak French. They appreciate if you try, and the boys are happy now because I can speak French and give my opinion. All the banter's in French, it's a good environment."

International experience

The opportunity to play alongside and against players from other countries, and especially players of an international standard, has been one of the highlights of Tomas's first year in France and had provided another learning experience.

"It's a chance to play with and against different nationalities. Our local rivals Perigueux have Georgians, Canadians and South Africans so it's a chance to match yourself against different nationalities. I've also played alongside three current internationals at Le Bugue - Fijian prop Naisake Tarogi, Tongan centre Suka Hufanga and Georgian flanker Dimitri Basilaia."

The away trip to Perigueux, the oldest rugby club in the Dordogne, was one of the highlights of the season for Tomas, as Le Bugue came within yards of stealing a famous late derby win in front of a passionate 6,100-strong crowd that included French Rugby Federation president Pierre Camou.

"In terms of atmosphere my favourite match was at Perigueux. We lost 17-12 but we could have won," he admits. "There's not many Welsh Premiership games that you have 7,000 people watching."

Le Bugue's population of only 2,700 makes it one of the smallest towns to have a Federale 1 team, but the crowds at its modest Stade Renaud-Cruveiller are no less lively when Les Chevaliers d'Albuga are in town.

"It's only a small town but they're very passionate. They love the club and I haven't had a better welcome anywhere else. They take you in and give you lots of dinners and make you feel welcome. It's a cultural thing."

Life changing

Before pitching up in Le Bugue, Carmarthenshire-born Marks had experience in Welsh Premiership and English Championship rugby, having played for Llandovery and Llanelli before spending three years with London Welsh while working for the RFU in London. As well as the different lifestyle - "I wanted a change from hectic city life," he admits - Tomas came to France for a taste of a different rugby mentality.

"I always wanted to play in France - one of my heroes when I was younger was Thomas Castaignede. I always liked the way the French play. I do appreciate you have to keep to a structure but I want to play rugby as well, and it has given me a chance to improve my attacking play.

"One of the main reasons for joining Le Bugue in particular was that I thought Terry Fanolua would be a good mentor, that I could learn a lot from him by playing alongside him and being coached by him."

Former Samoan international centre Fanolua has completed four years in France after leaving Gloucester for Brive, where he played for two years before making the hour's trip to Le Bugue when the side won promotion from Federale 2 in 2008.

As well as being coached by and playing alongside the Kingsholm hero, Marks had the opportunity to study Fanolua's fly-half skills at close quarters when the Welshman was forced to revert to his occasional scrum-half position for one Federale 1 encounter.

"I have learned a great deal playing alongside Terry. He is a superb player both in attack and defence. I would want to work with him again as he has ambition and strives to get the best out of the team. I can now understand why he is a Gloucester legend!" he says.

Compare the Marks-set

Marks' experience of semi-pro rugby in England and Wales puts him in an ideal position to compare the game either side of the English Channel.

"Compared to the English Championship, the forwards are stronger in England but in France it's all a bit more off the cuff and not so structured - if it's on you play and if it's not you kick.

"The big thing I've noticed is it's very difficult to win away. I'm not sure if it's a mentality thing but I didn't have that in Wales or England. In France the mentality is to try and get a bonus playing away. My mentality is to win and not to pick up a defensive bonus."

Marks' plans for next season have yet to be confirmed, but if he does leave Le Bugue, his year in France will be an experience he would recommend to other young players.

"But it's been a wonderful experience, and I'd definitely recomend it if only for one or two seasons. The chance to learn a new language, a new culture, a different way of playing and to sample the atmosphere here. It's been an educational experience."