MENU saturday may 16 2020

 Ready for more? Start your trial and get one month’s free unlimited access.

Machacek finished his career at Montferrand, now Clermont, after stints in , England and Wales DAVE ROGERS/GETTY IMAGES

RUGBY UNION Jan Machacek – from behind the Iron Curtain to five- course lunches at Clermont In a new series celebrating the global game of rugby, we will be talking to the men who came from unusual places to play at the highest level. Today, Jan Machacek

Elgan Alderman

Friday May 15 2020, 12.00pm BST, The Times

Share Save

Life behind the Iron Curtain was dull. No travel. No western music, TV or films. Minimal freedom of choice. Factories polluting the country. Don’t take my word for it: take Jan Machacek’s.

Machacek was born in Prague on February 15, 1972. He was 17 during the Velvet Revolution, a six-week period at the end of 1989 when one-party rule in Czechoslovakia ended. When he first played rugby at 15, the odds of him becoming a powerful No 8 for the Barbarians and shaking President Jacques Chirac’s hand before the 2001 French league final, having spent time in New  Ready for more? Start your trial and get one month’s free unlimited access. Zealand and played as a professional in Wales and England, were slim. But it happened.

“It was weird,” Machacek, 48, says of life in Czechoslovakia. “You couldn’t start your own company. Your life was more or less lined up. People weren’t struggling with food, schools were free, everyone had a job. It was just a dull time — you couldn’t do much. I really value the freedoms we have now. I’m really happy that I can hop into the car and drive through Germany to , to Portugal, without being questioned why I’m travelling there and whether my parents can support me. I hated that.

“We were in the last year of school [when the revolution began], so we were going out protesting in the streets, putting up posters against the government and so on. In 1989, it wasn’t that violent: maybe 200 students got beaten up — I wasn’t there. There were no shootings, no Russian tanks involved as in 1968. But it was a huge and dramatic change. It went from being completely under control to the early Nineties when there was no control at all. Now we are a normal, western country.”

Rugby had been played in Czechoslovakia since the 1920s but ice hockey and football were more palatable to the authorities. The Machaceks were sporty: their father played rugby and Jan followed him to Slavia Prague; Dusan, Jan’s brother, competed in rowing at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics.

As the curtain fell on Communism, Czechs and foreigners crossed paths at borders. New Zealanders were travelling through Europe; one, from Otago, played for Slavia and stayed in the city for three months. That was the spark for Machacek, cutting short his master’s degree in information technology to head to New Zealand for a few months and play for Dunedin Pirates. He returned home in October 1995, just after rugby had become professional. Not that Machacek had designs on playing rugby for a living.

The event that changed everything was a sevens tournament in Abertillery, Monmouthsire, in the summer of 1996. Fiji were there. So were Machacek and the Czech Republic. He caught the eye and was invited back to the UK for trials. Swansea filled their back row by signing Paul Moriarty. Saracens were more interested in height and weight than ability. “I ended up in Newport and I liked it Ready for more? Start your trial and get one month’s free unlimited access. there,” Machacek says. “It was a good bunch of boys.”

Machacek has kept many newspaper clippings from his professional career: in the early days at Newport there was plenty of “Czechmate”, the odd allusion to “Czech bounce”. At 6ft 4in and 16st, he quickly earned a reputation as a rampaging runner, scoring 27 tries in 61 matches during two seasons at Rodney Parade. His signature headguard sported a geometric pattern, described by Nick Cain in one interview as looking like he was wearing a Meccano set. It was a South Moravian design by a friend, inspired by the area from which his father hailed. “How can society be driven forward if we are all clones?” he told Cain in that interview, an attitude born from his childhood.

“We were the first professional generation,” he says. “There were a few guys from abroad like Rod Snow [Canada], there were some Aussies like Alex Lawson. We also knew the international guys from other rugby clubs like Ebbw Vale and Cardi. It was a big family type of environment.”

Machacek, second row, fourth from left, was the first Czech to represent the Barbarians NOT KNOWN Machacek was put up in a flat in Malpas and given a car. Clubs were professional but they were finding their feet: Newport trained two or three times a week and  Ready for more? Start your trial and get one month’s free unlimited access. players were responsible for their own gym work.

“Slavia to national side, that wasn’t a big step,” Machacek says. “From the national standard to Dunedin Pirates, that was the eye-opener. It was several levels up. That was just one of the ten club sides based in Dunedin. I wasn’t anywhere near the provincial level. I think that year Otago beat South Africa [the Springboks played 11 provincial sides on their 1994 tour, Otago were the only ones who beat them]. Such was the level in Dunedin.

“I thought that Newport were on a similar level as the Pirates. This fully professional set-up in Wales compared with this completely amateur side in New Zealand; they were kind of similar — maybe the Pirates were more inventive. They were very good ball-handlers.”

There was turbulence during Machacek’s time at Newport. During his second season, he was among a group of players who wrote a letter of grievances to ocials over the club’s problems after they had lost all 14 league matches. Despite that run, Machacek shone on the field. All the while he would continue to return to represent his country: he played for the Czech Republic more than 50 times between 1993 and 2009.

Of the numerous tries Machacek scored, two came in Newport’s double-header with in the 1997-98 Challenge Cup. The English side oered him a contract and he was o to Manchester, for his “first truly professional environment” under John Mitchell, England’s current defence coach.

Mitchell was not the only future staple of English coaching at Sale. The playing squad featured Steve Diamond at hooker and Jim Mallinder at full back. “I think we were friends, I took them to Prague on a trip once,” Machacek says. “I like them. Jim for his knowledge and Steve for his passion.”

On the playing side, however, Machacek’s stint was not as successful — though that season he did become the first Czech to play for the Barbarians, against — and he returned to Wales with Pontypridd after one year. “I struggled, I wasn’t that outstanding and they had limits on overseas players [in England],” he says.  Ready for more? Start your trial and get one month’s free unlimited access. He has fond memories of his time at Pontypridd. “This heart-of-Wales club,” he says. “They are very passionate about rugby, they played a nice style of rugby, they’re hard, and their backs were always on fire. There were so many internationals there.”

Among the likes of Ian Gough, Michael Owen and Gethin Jenkins, there was Fe’ao Vunipola, father of Billy and Mako. “We’re still in touch over Facebook,” Machacek says. “I compliment him about his sons all the time. He was wider than tall.”

Machacek was known for his surges from the base of the scrum

There was more change soon. He spent only one year at Pontypridd and was ready to head back to his homeland. “I was 28 at the time and I thought I’d had enough of rugby,” he says. “The competition was pretty sti in Pontypridd and I just didn’t enjoy the training any more.” It was a surprise he had lasted until 2000. In an interview with the South Wales Argus in October 1997, Machacek said: “I’d like to quit rugby in 1999. I’ve got so many scars on my face, and I’d also like to settle down a bit and have a family. I’d Ready for more? Start your trial and get one month’s free unlimited access. also like to do my own business full time, probably back in Prague.”

The salvation of his career came from an unexpected source. Machacek did not like French rugby. He had played with Pontypridd in Colomiers, where the spectators threw industrial toilet rolls at the away side. The prop Richard Nones had been sent o at Sardis Road for gouging but was then paraded around Colomiers’ ground “in almost gladiatorial fashion”, Pontypridd’s chief executive said at the time. There were alleged assaults by fans on players.

“I didn’t think much of France — I thought they were very filthy, eye-gouging, dirty players,” Machacek says. But he ended up at cosmopolitan Montferrand, swayed by Stade Marcel-Michelin and the remuneration (his reticence turned into the perfect negotiating tactic), after a Barbarians team-mate informed him he was a wanted man.

Serendipity played its part too. Video citing had been introduced in France and the violence Machacek disliked gave way. “The game changed completely — it was as clean as anything,” he says. “It was very fast, nice to watch. True French flair without the dirty stu. I was pleasantly surprised. [The ground] was like a sci-fi. They had a pool in the changing room.

“We drank wine, sometimes on the table. The lunches, that was the highlight of it. In the club canteen, we were a multi-sport club and they catered for us, and the food was a five-course meal every day, with cheese and everything. That was part of the culture. The boys were well fed, happy.”

Machacek learnt French alongside Alessandro Troncon, the Italy scrum half. At the time the French top flight comprised 21 teams, split into two pools. Montferrand finished top of theirs in 2000-01 and beat Agen and Biarritz to reach the final, a clash with Toulouse at Stade de France. “From the dirt of Sardis Road, I was playing in front of 80,000 people, shaking Jacques Chirac’s hand live on TV,” Machacek says. “That was amazing.”

Machacek had a 20-minute cameo o the bench as Montferrand fell short, losing 34-22. He speaks with fondness of his team-mates, reeling o the names of an “outstanding” back line: Troncon, Gérald Merceron, Aurélien Rougerie, , and Sébastien Viars.  Ready for more? Start your trial and get one month’s free unlimited access. The back row was not bad either, with wearing No 7 in the final. “Sometimes he wasn’t that focused on playing club level,” Machacek says. “He played outstandingly for France. He chased anything that moved. Very fast. Great ball skills. There were some other top players in the back row like , Selborne Boome, Alex Audebert. Somehow I sneaked in.”

That was the first of three years in Montferrand for Machacek. In his final season, 2002-03, he was joined by another future Premiership coach: Richard Cockerill. “What a great guy,” Machacek says of the hooker. “He was funny. Very honest. He never missed a gym session. From the TV coverage, I thought, ‘What a prick’ — from a Welsh perspective. Honestly, he was such a nice guy.”

When Machacek’s contract expired, he decided — at 31 — it was time to return to Prague to continue running the web-design company he had set up, and start a family. He has two daughters aged 12 and 14 with his wife, a dental hygienist. He sold his business, Infonia, five years ago and now focuses on trying to get a range of sports into Prague primary schools. He continued playing for Slavia and ranks ending their 40-year wait for a Czech title alongside the Barbarians and the French final as his proudest moments.

Machacek shaking the hand of Jacques Chirac before the 2001 French league final

Among his goals for his country is Olympic sevens. He set up a rugby academy called Olymp Praha, which caters for all ages and has about 250 children involved. “The Olympic medals and all the glory, that shouldn’t be the objective itself — these results are only a projection of how you work with regular kids,” he says. “If you work well with kids until the age of 15, if you can create their emotional relationship with sport, and have much bigger numbers of them participating in sport, then it is logical that some of them will want to do sports seriously, and also they will be better prepared for later engagement.  Ready for more? Start your trial and get one month’s free unlimited access. “Especially rugby, I think [it] is a late-development sport. I started playing rugby when I was 15 and I don’t think I missed much. I did judo, ice hockey, street climbing. These days, some people think it is necessary to start rugby when they are four, which is complete nonsense I reckon.”

Born into a country that restricted travel, western activities and entrepreneurship, Machacek went on to succeed in all three. He went toe-to-toe at No 8 with Zinzan Brooke, Gary Teichmann, Scott Quinnell and and held his own, though he modestly says, “There were hundreds of players I faced and said, ‘I’ll never be so good.’ ” The summary of his career? “The stint in Manchester wasn’t that great. That didn’t click too much. New Zealand was great, Newport was perfect. Ponty was OK, and Clermont was really good.”

He lists only one regret: “John Mitchell wanted me to play lock and I think it was a mistake because I thought it would be a humiliating move. Obviously my skill set wasn’t as good as some of the other No 8s at that time but I was stubborn and I wanted to play No 8.”

Rugby fans will have been happy to see him stay at No 8, driving from the base of a scrum to devastating eect. We will finish with one of the clippings in his collection, referring to Pontypridd’s 87-10 win in a cup tie against Nelson. “No 8 Jan Machacek brought the celebrations to an abrupt end,” it reads, “as he powered over with half the village of Nelson on his back.”

France

Related articles