Davies: French is difficult but I'm moving up the ranks in the Crayon Class

Jonathan Davies tells Sky Sports he's coming along in his French lessons, and is no longer at the bottom of the class.

I've just come back from my French lesson this afternoon. The problem with speaking some French, rather than being fluent or speaking none at all, is when you try to practice it in the outside world. So I'll head into a shop with the items I need in mind, and walk up to the shopkeeper and ask for them, but sometimes they will take that as a sign that I speak the language so they start conversing with me at length.

Not all of us can be Nick Abendanon, swanning in with his school-level French and showing off to the teacher.

The thing about native French speakers is that they speak at the speed of light. I will ask them to repeat themselves once and if I still can't understand them then I just have to admit that I can't speak French.

Another good trick is to take a French team-mate with me, who can come to the rescue if I get lost. Kind of like going for a swim in the sea, but keeping yourself tied to the boat!

The lessons themselves are a lot of fun. We have a dedicated instructor who deals with all the non-French speaking players who play for Clermont, so it's just you and your mates really.

Obviously there are the differing levels of ability which makes things interesting, but they split us up to keep us all going at the correct pace.

Crayon Class

I'm in a section with Zac Guildford and Fritz Lee in a group that I like to call the Crayon Class because we are a little bit behind the rest. Though I have just moved one place above Zac at the bottom of the class so at least I've got that going for me! I studied German at school, so French is completely new to me. Not all of us can be Nick Abendanon, swanning in with his school-level French and showing off to the teacher.

More importantly though, we have a game against Sale this weekend. It's never difficult to get yourself mentally ready for these games because Europe is such a big showpiece. We sat down as a group in the pre-season training camp and said we wanted to win both competitions so the pressure is on us to do justice to our goals.

Sale are a good side but we are confident we can go there and get a win which will mean crucially going into the final round at the top of the pool. The most important aspect of these competitions is playing well from the beginning, so that at the end you aren't relying on other teams getting results to help you 'mathematically' qualify.

One thing I am gutted about is that I'm a huge fan of Manchester United, and a trip to Sale had potential to offer up a visit to Old Trafford to watch a game. My brother and I have season tickets and I try get there as often as I can, which is pretty rare in itself. Sadly the fixtures did not coincide so I will miss out on going this time round.

The atmosphere at a football game is always quite incredible. In rugby, if the team does something good then the crowd reacts, but in a game of football the fans are chanting throughout the game so its a completely different experience. 

Lucky

I do love football, but I wouldn't give up playing rugby for the world! I realise just how lucky I am to be playing this sport for a living.

The weeks can be long and you sometimes miss out on having beers with friends because you're in training or close to a match, but I do sometimes take a look back on things during a quiet moment and can't quite believe the opportunities that rugby has afforded me.

It's been said before by other athletes but competing at the highest level is like a drug. Once you've had a taste of it you just want more. As a Welshman, running onto the field at Millennium Stadium and hearing the crowd singing is just impossible to describe as a player.

Those are the times when you create the strongest memories, and those memories are what will keep me going when I'm old and grey one day.

It's the reason you want to keep chasing that dream, and it's the reason I'm praying that I'm involved in the match against the English on the 6th of February.