According to Stuart Barnes in The Times, it was France who were the worst team of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, relative to expectations. For a country which has excellent World Cup pedigree, being demolished by nearly 50 points in the quarter final was a disaster that followed a dismal effort to win their pool against Ireland. That evening against New Zealand wasn’t just a bad day at the office; there are deep rooted issues that pose huge problems for the incoming Guy Novès.
The highly successful former Toulouse coach certainly isn’t shying away from the challenge. He has been quoted in French newspaper Le Monde as wanting to inspire children to pick up a rugby ball after watching the national team. In order to achieve this he will have to change the team’s style away from forward-based power to the stereotypical “French flair” that eluded them during this tournament. The fact that their tries in the opening game against Italy both came from props epitomised this.
The most obvious reason that has been widely highlighted is the influx of foreign players into the domestic Top 14. But is this the simple cause of the problem?
The argument for players joining French clubs, particularly from Britain and Ireland, is so they can play with and against the best players in the world week in, week out. Surely though domestic-based French players would equally benefit and therefore be better equipped to compete at international level? Unfortunately in practice these marquee foreign players end up concentrated at a few rich clubs (Toulon and Racing 92 the most obvious examples) who are the ones that compete on the biggest stages in European rugby. Therefore they prevent French talent from playing at this high level – Toulon’s starting XVs in Champions Cup finals clearly show this – so domestic talent simply doesn’t get the chance to experience top level rugby.
By looking at the French squad for the World Cup we can see that this clearly is having an impact. Four players: Scott Spedding, Bernard Le Roux, Rory Kockott and Noa Nakaitaci have ‘become French’, meaning they have played for years ahead of domestic talent to gain nationality, and then taken someone’s place in the national team.
An issue of selection perhaps that can be corrected now Philippe Saint-Andre has departed? Not likely. Even newly promoted clubs put their faith in foreign talent to help them compete in the league. Pau’s All Black acquisitions of Conrad Smith and Colin Slade demonstrate that coaches don’t believe French players are good enough even for their own domestic league.
If the ever-increasing influx of foreign players was just a strong headwind, then this week’s news may be the catalyst for a full blown storm. Les Bleus standout player of the World Cup Louis Picamoles has announced that he will be leaving Toulouse for Northampton Saints next season. It has been virtually unheard of for French internationals to ply their trade in England, so who knows what the consequences may be of the number eight’s decision.
Previous national coaches may have been able to ignore this issue but with France not even competing strongly for the Six Nations title in recent years, action needs to be taken to ensure this is the bottom of the slump and not just a peak before an even lower trough. However, as in England, club and national incentives are not aligned so whether Guy Novès can bring about radical change is debatable. Given they cannot go much lower, results alone cannot be the sole judge of his success seeing as third place in the Six Nations would constitute improvement. The power of the clubs may mean that this is beyond even the most successful French coach. Bonne chance Guy.
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