French coach blames France
Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:05
Marc Lièvremont, France's new coach, who may turn out to be more eccentric than Bernard Laporte, has blamed France for France's failure in Australia - two Tests, two hidings. He has a point.
He blamed it on the rugby calendar in France, saying that sending a weakened, tried team was unfair on the players and on the Australian public who had every right to expect a proper contest.
Because France's rugby calendar took the season three weeks into June, the team went without players from the teams in the semifinals, in other words France's top teams - Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne, Stade Français and Perpignan.
Talking of the demands on the players, he mentioned his captain Lionel Nallet for one, playing his 53rd week of rugby.
Those who went to the World Cup have been playing rugby for virtually two years - with Tope 14, European Cup matches, the World Cup and tours in and out. As a result the players and France's reputation suffer damage.
Lièvremont said: "There are too many matches in a season and the Top 14 is mediocre. It does not prepare players for the international level."
There was, he said, some sort of agreement for next year but again France would leave for New Zealand without some top players. The final has been set for 6 June (as against 28 June this year) but that is just a week before the team leaves for New Zealand.
Bernard Lapasset, the outgoing president of the French Federation, has suggested revamping tours into a centrally-hosted competition, which did not appease Lièvremont who felt that France was lagging behind England, Wales and Ireland in organising its calendar of matches. "Everybody makes progress, except us," he said.
