Following the World Cup debacle, and indeed the debacle of the past eight years, a Bernard Laporte-less France decided to buck the trend of international rugby and completely invest in youth.
That included the coaching line up of Lievremont, N’Tamack and Retiere; Jo Maso excepted.
Fabien Pelous, Christophe Dominici, Peter DeVilliers, Olivier Milloud, Raphael Ibanez are all gone, to be replaced by the young guns, Trinh-Dunc, Picamoles, Ouedrago, Szarewski and Jacquet.
Lievremont promised a free-flowing backline supplemented by a tough, grizzly pack.
Essentially, a France of yesteryear.
What the public actually witnessed in the Six Nations was test suicide.
France, in a position to win the tournament, basically gave up. Lievremont cited the need to develop experience and that he had to blood players for the coming Australian series.
Incidentally, the French scrum was at its lowest peak for years. The consistent selection of Georgians, Italians and South Africa has finally nobbled the French frontrow union.
The less said about the Australian series the better. It was surely the most conservative, dull and un-inventive French team in years.
That the squad was so depleted highlights their biggest problem: the French domestic calender.
Until this is remedied, France will struggle to be a force. Even England have arranged a beneficial agreement between clubs and the RFU.
France are currently ranked seventh in the world and potentially might not even be seeded come the 2011 World Cup draw this coming December.
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Benjamin
Guest
Thank you planetrugby.com Your eyes do not deceive you. The Top 14 kicked-off last Tuesday with no less than 207 foreigners in France's top division. Add to that another 165 étrangers in the ProD2 and you've got the makings of a hot debate. The foreign 'invasion' of France continues - Saffers, Aussies, Kiwis, Englishmen, Georgians, Canadians, you made it - if there's a rugby playing nation out there, they've got an ex-pat rugby community in France. From Paris to Perpignan, Biarritz to Bourgoin, 22 nations in all have representatives in L'Hexagone. South Africans lead the way; 48 of them ply their trade in the land of cheese and wine. We'll save you from doing the maths, 207 foreigners (up from 185 last year) divided by 14 teams comes to an average of 14.78 per team. We're not in the habit of chopping players into little pieces, so lets call it 15. That's right, you could just about have a league in France made up entirely of foreigner players.
Benjamin
Guest
If anybody is interested... Perpignan - Dan Carter. Toulon - Jerry Collins, Matt Henjak, Luke Rooney, Ross Skeate, Tiaan Liebenberg, Francois van der Merwe... and supposedly Big Joe. Montpellier - Justin Marshall, Bruce Douglas, Ollie Smith, Santiago Bottini. Biarritz - Campbell Johnstone, Magnus Lund. Bayonne - Rodney Blake. Brive - Andy Goode, Damien Browne, Christian Short, Liam Davies, Alix Popham, Pablo Henn, Horacio Agulla, Lachlan McKay, Gerhard Vosloo. Stade Francaise - Mark Gasnier, Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Ignacio Mieres. Mont-de-Marsan - Ben Coutts. Clermont - Simms Davidson. Montauban - Shannon Paku, Nick Adams, Vilimoni Delasu. Dax - David Bortolussi.
Benjamin
Guest
I don't think the overseas signings represents a lack of talent, I think it illustrates that many coaches are not willing to persevere with youth, who inevitably make mistakes, and would rather buy ready-made experience. Ben from Pretoria, the only two nations who pick foreign based players are Argentina and Scotland. All international teams have home grown players.
mcxd
Guest
I think it just shows a priority for some club owners and the popularity of the French Top 14. I also found it interesting with Laporte that he was very big on eradicating foul play out of the French game (one that was synonymous with French rugby) and he succeeded..The new coach Leivermont comes in and so does the foul play that was witnessed in the last Aus test.
Ben from Pretoria
Guest
Signing players such as Gerhard Vosloo and Fanie Oelshig is just confirming that the level of talent in France itself is at a worrying level notwithstanding a home victory at schoolboy level. Le Bleus will now have sporadic "drive by" success against the worl'ds top teams but seems to be on a downward spiral in the long term. It is no surprise that the 3 top teams in the world have locally based players.
Benjamin
Guest
Brive have been particularly active in recent Top 14 transfer window, signing no less than fifteen new players including, amongst others, Gerhard Vosloo, Alix Popham, Pablo Henn, Horacio Agulla, Lachlan McKay and Andy Goode. Planet Rugby It seems these French teams just can't help themselves...
Benjamin
Guest
This weeks transfers... Tiaan Liebenberg,Francois van der Merwe, Luke Rooney and Matt Henjak have all joined Toulon. Falie Oelsching has joined Stade Francaise. David Vaealiki has joined Albi. Taniela Rawaqa has signed for Agen. More good news for France then.
Benjamin
Guest
It's an outpost now, the French 2nd division is equally jam packed with foreign players as is the Top 14. Henjak's off for a holiday in Toulon too. George Gregan even has a French dish named after him! Sacre bleu!
westy
Guest
The sadest thing about the cashed up French rugby is that in Australian rugby league they openly talk of the French option. Not for Les Catalan but French club rugby.......sight unseen...............on more money than can be offered in Australian league or rugby. Just check with Rooney and now I hear Gasnier. Play league do not worry about switching to Australian rugby and then play professional club rugby in France. What a life!
ChrisInParis
Guest
I agree with you Benjamin. France has a young, new coach in only his eighth game at the top, who has changed the team massively for every single game since starting, causing massive disruption. France underperformed in the Six Nations due to all these changes and it appears Lievremont is in no rush to settle his team. I think he wants to try as many players as possible with an eye to 2011, and will eventually settle for the younger players with whom he is more familiar. In the meantime, its frustrating. No combinations have been allowed to develop. The French halves we saw in Brisbane had never played together. France was missing its top players from the top four championship teams: Clerc, Heymans, Skrela, Fritz, Elissalde, Jauzion, Vermeulen, Dusautoir, Rougerie, Nyanga, Mas, Poux, Thion, Servat, Szarzewski, Pelous, Poitrenaud, amongst others (and the injured Michalak will be back too). There were only five players in Australia from the 22 France put out against Wales in the final match of the Six Nations. The players have been playing non-stop since september and as Byron Kelleher discovered, their Top 14 is a marathon with many many more matches than the super 14. There are also the Europe Cup matches. As Deans admitted, they were looking forward to the summer holidays. All is not lost for France. Running genius is not going out of French rugby and the bulk of the French championship games have shown the usual flair and talent, with the Toulouse - Clermont final a great game featuring many of the top players that unfortunately weren't in Australia.
Benjamin
Guest
Could be, not much left in the French locker beyond that. The ol' subtle sabotage.
Nick
Guest
As a NZ rugby supporter, this is clearly horrendous news for the ABs. France are obviously running their ranking down so they can get the ABs early in the 2011 tournament and bundle them out again. Just like making us wear grey jerseys they really know how to punch below the belt.