Serge settling in at Wasps

Last updated: 20th August 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Serge settling in at Wasps

Betsen: Settling in

Related links

Teams

Also see

Serge Betsen admits he still has plenty to do to fully adapt to life at London Wasps, but feels he made the right decision to move to England.

After 17 years at Biarritz, the former France international, 34, opted to bring down the curtain on his career with the reigning Guinness Premiership champions.

He made his unofficial debut for Wasps in a pre-season friendly at Dax over the weekend and concedes he still has much to learn both on and off the pitch with the Londoners.

However, Betsen is pleased with his progress to date and feels his decision to take on the challenge over the channel will be vindicated.

"This has been a good experience for me, generally speaking I mean," he told French daily Sud Ouest.

"To tell the truth, rugby today is all about the clubs. Different coaches and clubs have their own cultures, their own strategies and methods. Adaptation has more to do with moving from one club to another rather than from one country to another.

"The capacity for adaptation is a key part of being a player these days. For that you have to be willing to listen.

"Language is a major factor. I'm taking English lessons, it's an area where I want to progress rapidly. To tell the truth, I started classes before starting training with the Wasps.

Communication

"As far as I'm concerned undertaking these classes is part of a professional rugby player's job. As a foreigner in a new team, I really have to listen carefully to understand. I have to do everything I can to make assimilating the instructions easier. Communication is fundamental.

"I think back to when we had foreigners arriving at Biarritz. Now it's my turn to see what a difference it makes to have to integrate into a group.

"It's up to me to make the necessary effort. It's not up to the group to adapt to me. I'm not going to ask them to speak French. That said, my colleagues are helping me integrate and assimilate things."

Betsen's first game in a Wasps shirt ended in a hard-fought 13-3 victory over Dax, but he recognises there is still much hard work ahead before the season begins in earnest.

"[In pre-season games] we discover each other as partners, they reveal the truth, the way only the context of a match can," he added.

"We learn about each other in training, but it's on the field that we get a different perspective on the group.

"There are a lot of new players debuting this season. It's interesting, we have laid a platform of work and we've got some common references, a few markers.

"But it's only in a match that we can test ourselves and we'll learn more."