James Horwill’s Advice on Continental Moves

Firstly, I had to get my head around what I really wanted to do. I was pretty certain in my mind that I wanted to move and experience something new. I made the decision quite early so I could prepare myself. Sometimes professional athletes don’t have a lot of time and those decisions are made for them. So I think I was very lucky to be able to make the decision on my own terms without being pushed or rushed.

I think one of the great things about the sport of rugby is it’s a really international game. From a very early age when I first started playing rugby, I had always wanted to experience playing overseas, in a different culture and a different area.

I think I’d reached the point at the Reds where I thought, “If I don’t make the decision now, I’m never going to make the decision and I’m never going to go.” I didn’t want to regret not going overseas and trying something new.

I’m a very proud Queenslander and I’ve lived my whole life there, born and raised, and so I didn’t feel like I could play for another team in Australia or play against the Reds. That’s where an international move came in.

I had no preconceived ideas when I came. I sort of said, “Let’s just see what happens.” Even though it’s not a huge culture shock from Australia to England there are still a lot of things that are different.

For me it was important to just go and immerse myself as much as possible in the culture and try to become part of the team as quickly as possible. I think that’s where it’s easier said than done, but that was probably the big thing.

I guess Australian rugby is 95% homegrown. They’ve all grown up in the same system. Especially at the Reds, a lot of the players come through the schools so it’s very much a homegrown sort of side where a lot of players know each other through underage groups.

I think that helps as you have that cultural understanding of what goes on and what it means to play for that team. I don’t like to say it, but it’s almost bred into you as a Queenslander; you have that motivation, that little chip on your shoulder. I think we were able to play on that a little bit as a group.

That certainly is different to here. Players do come through the academy, but there is still a much greater mix of different nationalities, different people coming from different backgrounds. I think that can be a challenge. We’ve got guys who are from South Africa, from the Pacific Islands. I’m from Australia, guys from New Zealand, Wales, Ireland, Scotland. Plus, the English guys – it’s a much greater mix of players compared to back home.

Make sure you do your due diligence. Do your research first. Make sure you understand what it is you’re going to. The little things can make a difference as to whether you enjoy it or not.

The other thing is to stay really open-minded because as soon as you close yourself off to something, you’re never going to enjoy it and you’ll be saying, “It’s not like home. It’s not like this. It’s not like we used to do.” Culturally, things are different. Going in there closed off is never good. You’ve got to really embrace it.