The word from France around a month ago about Michael Ala’alatoa moving from Leinster to Clermont was confirmed by the prop this week. He will be moving to Stade Marcel Michelin at the end of the season. There are six Australian players in this year’s Clermont squad, but no Samoan players.
The Sydney-born Samoan international said he was committed to the French club but that leaving Dublin was a far from easy decision. However, for the rest of the season his energy and focus remain with Leinster. He is leaving with contrasting emotions.
“That’s my decision, so I have committed to Clermont,” said the Leinster prop. “That’s an opportunity that’s come up over the last few months and it’s mixed feelings because I love it here, I love this team. But the opportunity to play in France was an appealing one and one I had to consider and it’s one I’m looking forward to. But my sole focus for now is here.
Ala’alatoa added that his age was a consideration. He turned 32 in August and, with wife Kara, has a young family. France offers a bigger salary and he is still young enough to have several good years playing at the top.
“It was far from an easy decision,” he said. “I’m not young any more and I had to think about my family and to put my family first and the more you’re away from home as well ... home is so far away so there were a lot of things I had to think about and of course the quality of this team, there’s not many teams like this.
“To decide to leave was tough and I’ve tried to avoid thinking about it for now because I just want to be dialled in on what we’re doing now and worry about the emotional side of it later.”
Upbeat, the defeat of La Rochelle at the weekend is still fresh in the mind of the “battered and bruised but pretty good” Ala’alatoa. His last outing against the French side in May’s Champions Cup final ended with a red card and a three-week ban, when he was sent off in the 78th minute for a dangerous tackle on Georges-Henri Colombe.
Because of his acceptance of the red card and a clean disciplinary record, the prop benefited from a 50 per cent reduction in the possible penalty. But the sanction ensured he missed Samoa’s pre-world Cup fixtures against Japan, Fiji and Tonga.
A rainy night on the French west coast and a brutal contest last Sunday was a redemption of sorts, although missing the last couple of minutes of the 2023 Champions Cup final as Leinster pressed for a score is not erased that easily.
“I did take the final pretty badly,” he says “Obviously it had a big bearing on the game. We were looking like we were going to score and all that, but to be honest it [last Sunday] just felt like a different game altogether. I didn’t think it [red card] affected my preparation at all, to be fair.
“In terms of redemption, not really. We have bettered them and that’s good, but at the same time we’re still in the pool stages of Europe. We can’t get ahead of ourselves. We’ve still got a really important game this week to play.”
In 2021, the 6ft 2in prop, whose father Vili played for Western Samoa in the 1991 World Cup, and whose brother Allan represents Australia but was injured before this year’s World Cup, arrived from the Crusaders to act as backup for Tadhg Furlong. Leinster was the first European team Ala’alatoa played for and he has twice come close to achieving success. Two Champions Cup finals in the last two years, losing both to La Rochelle is a frustration as well as reminder to drive along this season.
Leinster’s last win in the competition was 2018 when they beat Racing 92 in Bilbao.
““During my time here, we’ve come close twice but haven’t come away with anything, so that’s my motivation for this season, to leave on a high,” he says.
He may relish this last season under Leo Cullen. Going to France will be costly on his body as he steps into a 40-game season.
“Yeah, I know,” says Ala’alatoa. “I’ve mixed feelings about that.”
