Christian Ambadiang has made a career of scaling obstacles. Thomond Park holds no fears

Sacrifice is a recurrent theme when players discuss a sporting career, idiomatic in context and tone when based on a personal tale. Size varies. The obstacles that Castres wing Christian Ambadiang has faced might have broken a lesser person. It is to his immense credit that he has risen above every one, including abhorrent racial abuse.

Growing up in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital city, he dreamed of being a footballer or a sprinter. Raised by his mother, aunt and grandfather after his parents split at an early age, he enjoyed his childhood, but at 12 he was informed that he had to go and live with his father in South Africa. New family, new beginnings, new environment.

At school, football provided a link to his former life, then athletics. One day, a friend invited him to try rugby. Naturally rapid, he winged it and has never looked back; not even when he broke his jaw. His talent saw him recruited to the EP King’s academy at 17. The conditioning programme enabled him to put on 20kg to weigh in at 106kg.

A pathway emerged as he first made the Western Province under-19 side with the expectation that the Super Rugby side, the Stormers, would be a natural progression. Former Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer tried to recruit him for Stade Français but instead he opted to sign with the Southern Kings franchise in Port Elizabeth. They played in the Pro14, a precursor in tournament name to the United Rugby Championship.

A ruptured patellar tendon in preseason, the dissolution of the Southern Kings franchise (2020) and the Coronavirus pandemic threatened to derail his rugby career. He recalled his feelings at the time in an interview. “I didn’t play a match (for the Southern Kings). I told my agent to find me something, I wanted to play.

“I almost went with the Western Province’s under-21s, [but] it didn’t happen. I was sad, I didn’t answer anyone, not even my agent.”

French second-tier side Nevers offered him a training contract. “I said to myself, God is great, take this opportunity and do the maximum.” He thrived and quickly signed a three-year deal.

In his second season at the club, he was racially abused while playing against Provence. Ludovic Radosavljevic, a former Clermont Auvergne and Castres scrumhalf, was the culprit. Ambadiang didn’t name his tormentor but did outline that he had been called a “banana eater".

The Cameroonian took to his Instagram to draw attention to the incident. He posted: “[The] worst part is that the people (referees) that are supposed to be on the lookout for such behaviour tend to turn a blind eye to it.

“It’s so funny that we are taught to be the better person and walk away and to disregard what the person said but sometimes it’s really so difficult because how do you really protect yourself from the act of racism[?].

“We really need to do better than to overlook these issues because it can have a psychological impact. I’m not a big social media personality but I hope that gets to the right people and that something needs to be done about it. We as players in the broader rugby community should endeavour to stand up for ourselves or for other[s] whenever we experience such racist behaviour. We need to do better.”

Former Munster, Ireland and Lions wing Simon Zebo spoke out and up; called for a life ban for the perpetrator. Ugo Monye, Nemani Nadolo and Brive president Simon Gillham also offered their public support. Radosavljevic, who went on to receive a 26-week ban, identified himself as the guilty party and wrote on his Instagram page. “I would like to publicly and officially apologise to Christian Ambadiang for my remarks, which are unacceptable.

“I appreciate the seriousness of my actions and take full responsibility for them. This is not part of my values, nor those that I pass on to my children. I remain a human who makes mistakes and learns from them.”

Ambadiang played 54 matches (29 tries), across four campaigns for Nevers, before joining Castres at the start of the 2024-2025 season. He has played 20 matches and scored eight tries. One could only wish the 27-year-old every good fortune in what lies ahead for him in rugby.

The Munster supporters are no different, but they might suspend those sentiments for until the Castres wing has left the field for today’s Champions Cup match at Thomond Park.

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