JOEL Kpoku admits he was losing his way in the rugby world before decamping across the Channel, but he is not lost in France as he has resurrected his career at Lyon.
The lock moved from Saracens in November last year, immediately suffered knee and ankle injuries in his first game against La Rochelle but is top of the charts now.
His man-of-the-match display inspired his new side to beat Wasps in last weekend's Challenge Cup semi-final and book Friday's final date against Toulon in Marseille.
Kpoku was a Junior World Cup finalist with England U20 in 2018 and an Eddie Jones apprentice shortly afterwards in senior camp but failed to nail down a spot at Saracens.
Maro Itoje, Will Skelton, Nick Isiekwe, George Kruis, Dom Day are among the second rows who have blocked his way so he bit the bullet and it has paid off.
“It was the game time element and also I had things going on off the field and I wanted to start afresh and get away,” said Kpoku, who speaks fluent French thanks to his Congolese parents.
“Game time was also a priority and also to experience a different brand of rugby and put myself out there again because I felt I was lost in the rugby world. I had gone quiet, especially after the Junior World Cup and it was time to rejuvenate myself again and get myself back out there.
“Even when I was given a shot, whether that was coming off the bench or starting the game, I wasn't 100 per cent mentally ready because I knew that the coaches were probably looking at me and, if I did slip up, I would be out of the team the following week.
“I felt under a lot of pressure and also lost love for the game at the same time, just because I was holding a tackle bag in training week-in, week-out. Mentally, that was draining. But, looking back on it, maybe that was the right thing for me because without it, this opportunity wouldn't have arisen
“Thanks to Saracens for allowing me to cut my contract short, I spoke to them and they said it was probably the right thing for me to start afresh especially with everything that has gone on.”
Brought up in Hackney, Kpoku moved to Southgate aged 10, and played rugby league for London Skolars, from 12, before being spotted by Saracens legend Richard Hill and invited to their amateur branch and then the academy. But before he went to secondary school at Ashmole Academy in north London he, and twin brother Jonathan, had had no contact with rugby union.
He added: “I didn't know anything about rugby. The area I was brought up in was football based – Ididn't even know rugby existed or what the ball was until I went into secondary school.
“My PE teacher was like ‘I think you and your brother could be good at this, should we form a team?' And I was like, ‘not really but if you want to give it a shot'.
“When I first played I hated getting muddy, I hated the contact element of things, but later on it grew on me so then I started enjoying it. But where I was brought up rugby was not a thing I was aware of.”
The whole of French rugby is aware of Kpoku, who has two more years at Lyon, and they will sit up and take notice if he gets one over the mighty Springbok Eben Etzebeth, left, who is at Toulon, in Friday's final.
“I can't go into my shell,” said Kpoku. “He's a human being, just like me. He's achieved amazing things but, at the same time, he's the opposition. I have to concentrate on myself and not too much on what I have opposite me in Etzebeth. I'll stick to what I know and hopefully perform well and hopefully we come out on top.”
