French rugby: Singing Les Bleus

Published on Saturday 31 January 2009 18:46

FRANCE'S Six Nations hopes have been undermined by the increase in foreigners in their domestic championship, says Ian Borthwick

THIS TIME last year, Marc Livremont was taking his first tentative steps in the minefield that is international rugby. Thrust into the limelight to succeed Bernard Laporte as coach of the French XV, with only a minimum of experience coaching at lowly club Dax, the former international flanker was, to put it mildly, a surprise choice.

France had no shortage of keen rugby brains, not to mention a wealth of experience at the top European level. But such is the way of things in France, and such is the all-encompassing power of the president of the Fdration Franaise de Rugby (FFR), that, without consultation, without even going through the motions of calling for candidates, Bernard Lapasset simply offered the job to Livremont on a platter.

Since then, Lapasset has gone on to become the president of the IRB, and whether his legacy turns out to be an inspired choice or an enormous cock-up still remains to be seen. Livremont's current record of five wins from 10 starts is scarcely world shattering stuff, but as he enters his second season at the helm of Les Bleus, the 40-year-old appears to have a much clearer vision.

Having used his first season to blood as many players as possible and having weathered the initial storm of protest from many sectors of the French rugby milieu, Livremont and his assistants Emile Ntamack and Didier Retire are finally dealing from a position of strength. "Last year I came in for a lot of criticism for opening the doors to the French XV and picking too many new players, but if I had my time over again, I would do the same thing. Our performances may not have been perfect, but when we went to Cardiff for the final game against Wales, we still had an outside chance of winning the 2008 Six Nations," said Livremont recently. "When I took over after the World Cup, we basically had to rebuild the team from scratch. A lot of the senior players, many of whom had been playing for France for 10 years or so, had retired after the World Cup. But I also wanted to make a break with the past, creating a new identity and instilling a new form of team spirit in the French side."

So far, so good. Livremont has got rid of what he saw as the dead wood in the French XV, but don't expect to see the same extravagance from him in 2009. After going to one extreme last year, handing out caps to a total of 53 players, this year promises to reveal a far more miserly approach and, excluding injuries and the odd adjustment here and there, there should be little variation from the core of 23 names announced last Wednesday for the opening game against Ireland.

One of Livremont's problems is the rising number of foreigners in the French championship. A raft of Fijian wingers, and Georgian props, countless South Africans in all manner of positions, plus Byron Kelleher at Toulouse, Juan Hernandez at Stade Franais, Daniel Carter at Perpignan, Andy Goode at Brive, Manny Edmonds at Bayonne, the uncapped Aussie Brock James at Clermont… more and more clubs are resorting to recruiting etrangers in pivotal decision-making positions. And at a time when Chris Cusiter has wrong-footed everyone by opting to make the trip back to Glasgow, the prevalence of non-French nationals in le rugby Franais is starting to reach crisis point. "As coach of France, I am directly concerned by the problem. The quality of our game is suffering because in certain key positions it is becoming increasingly difficult to find players of quality," admitted Livremont. "Having the odd international star in the Top-14 is a great thing, especially for the shop-window of French rugby. But it has gone too far, because in some French clubs we are now seeing some team lists with up to 80 or 90% foreigners."

Livremont recognises, however, that the situation is out of his hands. "Unfortunately it is all linked to European legislation and people's right to ply their trades. It is something that goes beyond the realm of rugby, and even of sport, and it is up to the respective heads of state, or the ministers of sport to do something about it. I'm sure it will take a few years before they get around to doing anything, and I probably won't be around to take advantage of it, but it is a problem that urgently needs to be addressed."

With only one French club – Stade Toulousain – having qualified for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals, Livremont also pointed to the tough fixture list and the decreasing quality of rugby played in France. "In the Top-14, there are too many games, played at an intensity too far removed from the international level, or even from the level of the top clubs in Europe," he said. "French clubs are struggling in the European Cup and our players are struggling to make the next step up to international rugby."

Having played respectively for Perpignan, Stade Franais and Biarritz, Livremont now believes the quality of the French championship has dropped away. "We have a mediocre championship, and games of a mediocre quality," he insisted. "Consequently, unlike their counterparts in the Southern Hemisphere, our players are not used to playing high-intensity rugby for 80 minutes. Often we can see that we are competitive enough, because we still have a few good players, but we only last 50 or 60 minutes before we explode. Simply because French players are not used to playing at the highest level."

In the limited time available to him in the coming Six Nations, however, Livremont hopes to take his team up a notch or two, in the hope that Les Bleus can not only win the championship, but then go on to perform against even sterner opposition on the summer tour to New Zealand (two Tests) and Australia (one Test). To do this, Livremont is looking to the lessons learned from last year's crucial defeats, respectively against England and Wales in the Six Nations and Australia in the autumn, to produce a more consistent brand of rugby. "We lost to England and Wales because we tried to play too much rugby, but we lost to Australia because we didn't play enough," he mused. "So our aim is to find the right balance between the two: between the excesses of our attacking game in the last Six Nations, and the overly pragmatic approach which cost us a win against the Wallabies in Paris."

Last February, in his opening game as coach of France, against Scotland at Murrayfield, Les Bleus got lucky with their flighty, all-out attacking approach. But it is not likely to work a second time around. "Last year, our attack was naive. We systematically tried to run the ball, but only because we were unsure of our ability to control possession or kick for territory. This season, however, we will have more confidence in our ability to control the game; we will choose our time and place to run the ball," insisted Livremont. "I am convinced that this French XV has only reached 30 or 40% of its potential, but when you look at the progress we have made, with the new team spirit, there is every reason to be optimistic for the coming season."

Ian Borthwick is a rugby writer with L'Equipe in Paris

FACTFILE

STRENGTHS

In theory, they have many things going for them. A robust front five, a dynamic back-row, a highly skilled fly-half in Lionel Beauxis and some flying machines dotted around him. The likely back three of the new boy Maxime Mdard and the wings Cdric Heymans and Julien Malzieu are potentially lethal. They've also got Wales at home, which is a help.

WEAKNESSES

The French clubs have just had their worst set of Heineken Cup results in the history of the tournament. Only Toulouse made it through to the knockouts – as eighth and last seed. The French coach, Marc Livremont, is barking mad. He had a bad autumn and is now under significant pressure. He needs to stop tinkering and fast.

ODDS: 7/2

CAPTAIN

Lionel Nallet (below right) was the surprise choice last season and has still got plenty of improving to do in the job. No doubting his ability as a player, though. An outstanding second-row, a truly tough customer with a massive work ethic.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

Since it's Livremont, there are no shortage of young guns. He thinks a lot of half-backs Morgan Parra (the 20-year-old from Bourgoin) and Sbastien Tillous-Borde, the 22-year-old from Castres, but the focus will largely be on full-back Maxime Mdard, another 22-year-old who is being talked about as, potentially, one of the all-time great French backs. We shall see.

PIN-UP BOY

He's gone. Frdric Michalak has been left out because of a chronic lack of form so the ultimate dreamboat is absent.

YOU WOULDN'T WANT YOUR DAUGHTER DATING…

Time was when there was a list as long as your arm of French forwards you wouldn't even let the family pet near. Alas, they're not that scary any more, although Sbastien Chabal is an exception.

IMPACT SUB

Impossible to know what Livremont is going to do with his selection but the smoke signals from Paris suggest that he will keep Benot Baby the centre who can also play fly-half, in reserve. Baby has been excellent for Clermont Auvergne.

SIX NATIONS RECORD

Two championships in the last three years and two Grand Slams in the last seven years. They have lost to England twice in a row and so it's not good news that they must travel to Twickenham this year. Overall they have won 33 out of 45 since 2000.

HOME COMFORTS

They're not mad keen on the Stade de France. England won there last season, Ireland should have won and Italy made it difficult for them. They've had some very painful days in St Denis.

LAST SEASON

Scotland 6 France 27

France 26 Ireland 21

France 13 England 24

France 25 Italy 13

Wales 29 France 12

NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW THIS

Livremont's first choice No.10, Beauxis, has not actually started a match for France since the World Cup semi-final against England in the autumn of 2007.

COACH

Marc Livremont: unpredictable, under pressure but with masses of self-confidence.

MOST LIKELY TO SAY

"Anybody in the Under-16 side we can throw in against England?"

LEAST LIKELY TO SAY

"I'm fed up of experimentation, let's pick our best team here."

MISSING IN ACTION

No room for Frdric Michalak, the mercurial fly-half-cum-scrum-half.