Nothing rocks his castle

Coming from the tumult that is French rugby, the recent trials of the Western Force and coach John Mitchell are 'petite bière' to new front row recruit Ben Castle.

Castle arrived in Perth late on Saturday, and by Sunday morning was kitted up and packing down with his new Force scrummaging team-mates, ahead of a practice game on Thursday and a potential Super 14 spot the following week.

That rapid turn of events accurately reflected Castle's time at Toulon - with the circus surrounding the team owned by Mourad Boudjellal akin to the publications the comic strip impresario made his money from.

The recruitment of rugby league messiah and very naughty boy Sonny Bill Williams was just one of the stories that swamped the Toulonnais last season, with Castle's departure hardly raising a ripple two weeks ago.

But despite that, the former Junior All Black said he was hoping to make a big splash back in the Super 14 competition where he played five years for the Chiefs - and was not worried about working with Mitchell, a former contemporary back in Waikato.

"It was out of the blue, it has been surprise. I did not think I would play Super 14 again after having a long time in NZ," Castle said.

"It was a very different experience from playing footy in a pretty structured environment in New Zealand.

"French rugby and the politics of it all, they are very passionate about things, some things work over there and some don't.

"I am pleased I have experienced a bit of it, and now I can rip into another campaign here.

"I met John a while ago through the Waikato rugby system there. John has got some fantastic ideas.

"I had a good yarn with him, over the last week. I am looking forward to working under him, and contributing."

Castle will step straight into action on Thursday, playing for the WA academy against the Queensland equivalent in a curtain raiser to the Force's practice game against the Chiefs.

And he admitted his arrival was very unlikely to rival that of Williams' in France last year.

"I don’t think Toulon had had that much media attention until he turned up. Running around the country hiding from the media … but he slotted in nicely, he is enjoying his time there, and he is a pretty good player too," Castle said.

And ahead of the Force's opening Super 14 clash with the Blues at Subiaco on February 13, Castle may have to brush up on his teammates names.

"It is exciting to be around some of those younger guys coming up, the likes of Pocock and the young second five … O'Connor, that's him, that superstar."


http://www.watoday.com.au/sport/noth...0202-7v2j.html