Clermont-Ferrand, FRANCE: Over the past few months, former Kelowna Crow and Coldstream, BC native Cam Pierce has been adjusting to life in France where he has landed a one-year 'LNR' contract with professional outfit ASM Clermont Auvergne.

Pierce trains and plays with the Under-23 team known as the 'Espoirs', an academy side that has won three straight national titles. Three Espoirs regularly play for the Top 14 team and during the World Cup, as many as seven Espoirs featured in the senior lineup. Pierce has featured in four games for the Espoirs since arriving in France and his side is currently 1-1 in league play with a win over Lyon and a loss to Toulon.

We caught up with the former UVic Vikes standout and BC Bears forward to hear about his first few months of living in Clermont-Ferrand.

BC Rugby: How is the experience going? How has the transition been?

Pierce: The transition was very difficult at first, I have a lot of very good friends and a good life in Victoria where I went to UVic for two years. Once we started playing games and all the intense pre-season work was being put to test, it made everything a lot more enjoyable.

BC: How has the training been going? It is tougher than what you've experienced in the past?

Pierce: Pre season training was insane. Our days were packed full of weights/field training/swimming/boxing/hill running/ etc. I think they try and test you mentally and see how you can take the work load.

Once pre season is over it makes our schedule seem a lot less even, though we still have weights 4-5 times a week as well as 3-4 field sessions. The training they do here has been nothing like back home where your pretty much accepted for whatever shape your in. If you aren't in good shape [here] you are put in fat club and have to work your bag off after each session of an already intense session.

BC: Before you left, you were saying you did a bit of training with the team in the weight room on a trial. How does that side of things compare to what you were doing out here?

Pierce: The weight room is a lot of fun, forwards work out together as do the backs. I was not used to working out in a team setting before I came to ASM, and self motivation can be hard sometimes. As a team everybody is helping each other and pushing one another to be stronger and work harder. Plus we get free protein after our workouts. The trainers for the Academy spend a lot of time on the players, making sure weak points become strong points.

BC: Looking back on your development, what experiences prepared you for this level of rugby? You've played at Uvic, for the Bears and with Canada's U20 program, how does the rugby at Clermont Auvergne compare?

Pierce: My level of rugby has been a progression since I played with the Kelowna Crows Div 1 Mens team in grade 12. Those guys showed me what rugby was all about and made me fall in love with the sport! The Academy players here work their asses off all the time, no matter what we are doing because it is our job, and like any job you don't want to risk being fired! It is hard in Canada because rugby is almost always secondary behind school or work, while here it is their main focus. I reckon any of the guys on last years Canada U20 team could come here and make a good name for themselves, luckily for me I got to play under Mike James for the Bears who liked my play and set this all up for me. I think the U23 team would match up well in the CRC competition.

BC: How is your french, have you been studying up?

Pierce: Haha mon francais est pas mal, I've been going to University french classes since September. The boys appreciate that I make an effort. I took french until grade 11, barely getting by every year haha so thats helped me too.

BC: What games have you been playing in – are they against other academy sides? Are you still playing at no. 8?

Pierce: Ive played in 4 games so far, started my first and last game, and came in just after half time for the other two. Im playing #4. We are 1-1 in league play with a win over Lyon and a loss to Toulon (last years french final ASM beat Toulon). We play all the academy teams from the same 14 clubs you see in the top 14 competition.

BC: Thanks Cam for taking the time to do this! Best of luck for the rest of the season!

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