Goosen opens up about Racing exit
NEWS: Former Springbok and Cheetahs fullback Johan Goosen finally addressed the manner in which he left Racing 92.
Goosen walked out of his Racing contract in 2016 after confirming his retirement from rugby to take up a job as a commercial director at a saddle-horse stud farm in Bloemfontein.
However, Goosen’s Racing exit made loads of headlines as the French club launched several legal proceedings against the 25-year-old.
In 2018, Goosen decided to come out of retirement after Montpellier Mohed Altrad and Racing 92’s Jacky Lorenzetti came to an agreement for MHR to buy the player out of his contract for €1.4 million euros.
Earlier this year, Goosen started at flyhalf for the Cheetahs during their Pro14 against Scarlets.
The 25-year-old, who arrived at Montpellier, spoke about the incident to French newspaper Midi Olympique.
“To be clear, I did not feel good in Paris,” Goosen revealed, adding: ” I am South African, I need space, and in the suburbs of Paris, the buildings are so close to each other that I felt like I was choking.
“I had the uncomfortable feeling of living in a box. The worst part is that my son was also very unhappy…cried all the time.
“Yet I liked working with Laurent Labit. But because I was very unhappy off the pitch. I could not have stayed for five more years.
“Money has nothing to do with it.
“I wanted another life, the sun, space and nature. I’ll have all this in Montpellier,”
Goosen, who was the Top 14 player of the season in 2015/16, admitted that the manner in which he left Racing was a mistake and expects a hostile reception when he returns to his former club in the Top 14.
“It was madness. I made a mistake. But that’s life. Paradoxically, I have also grown a lot over the past two years. I emptied my head and allowed my body to rebuild itself. I am today much cooler than I was in December 2016.
“I know I’m going to be whistled, booed, insulted. But I do not care. I prepared myself for it.
“I know that everyone thinks that I am a bad guy and that I do not deserve the second chance that is offered to me today.
“Nevertheless, I hope that one day I will be forgiven and that in Montpellier, my rugby will make people happy,”
Source: sport24.lefigaro.fr
