Stade Francais sack McKenzie, Dominici as coaches

'When talking about French rugby phrases such as “French flair” and “free-flowing rugby” are often used. I guess you only have to look at the past French teams to see how this could be the case. However, so far in the Top 14 I am yet to see these statements hold true. While in the premiership it’s not uncommon for teams to play through multiple phases, out here in France so far it seems teams play only two or three phases before looking at their options. Whether this is due to the heat or the refereeing I am not sure but it certainly means a greater emphasis is placed on the set piece. This is something you might not expect, but after talking to a number of the French players in the squad it’s clear that the set piece has always been treated as something special within the game of rugby.' An interesting assessment of French rugby from Joe El-Abd, an English openside flanker that Phillipe Saint-Andre brought to Toulon.

To be pedantic, Leicester weren't doing very well under Meyer. They were near the top of the table (as they always are) but were looking terrible. Hougaard was appalling and the team simply looked awfully predictable. It is definitely a sustainable argument that Leicester would not have lasted the pace under Meyer. As soon as Meyer left Leicester improved their brand dramatically and had a very strong finish to the season. A Leicester player (I forget whom) recently said that Meyer was good for team spirit, and that's all he said, the implication being that he was good at little else.

Dexter and Dave - I agree generally with the thrust of what you are both saying with a proviso. A mate of mine who is fairly close to the Waratahs reckons Chris Hickey is very frustrated that the boys are not changing their ways fast enough. I guess it might be a case of not putting on the field what they are doing at training. We have given Deans a year and a bit to prove himself, we can at least give Chris Hickey the same. If the team is as poor as it was last year at the end of S14 bye bye Chris - bring on the next sacrifice. I am not sure what can be done with the Waratahs if they had 50% of the commitment the Reds (without the talent) put in they would win the S14 easy. Playing as individuals, rather than a team and mental walk-abouts kill them. Maybe Barnes will bring some commitment and professionalism to the team. BTW - my reckless prediction is that Beale will step up this season.

You like Ewen (probably as a friend or have at least some personal contact with him) too much to hear what the others are saying. Yes. Ewen is a good man and is fantastic when you really get to know him personally etc etc. We know that already, I may not have even met this guy, but the consensus is greatly in his favour that he is a great person. but great person does not automatically makes great coaches. Yes. He can coach. But not good enough at S14 level. If you have read all the post above, you should realise that he is pretty one dimensional as a coach and therein lies the problem. Don't link this year Tah's performance with Ewen's. The new idiot of a coach, Hicky comes out saying that we play ugly and win ugly. Did we win ugly? No. We ended up with playing ugly and lose.

You're a sad fark.

On watching the RL footy show tonight, they claimed that gasnier does not have a get out clause in his contract

I'm a piano pusher, Mr Russell, not a piano player; the Ewen McKenzie of Roar contributors, if you will.

I always liked McKenzie, stillmissit. He comes across as a decent, engaging man. He carried himself well at NSW when he new he was on the outer and he has carried himself well following this sacking. Personally, I think he deserved until the end of this season, but the problem with a league as big as the Top 14 is that if you falter at the start it is very difficult to catch up. I recall McKenzie informing the media just how excellent Hernandez was, and then Hernandez started to play like a cow blowing over the top of a wine bottle. It's a tough gig, Stade, and McKenzie isn't the first high profile name to suffer. At least if he goes back to Australian rugby he's experienced something different.

Knives - merci beaucoup! Frequently after I write a long comment, I think to myself "If I had known I was going to write all that, I would have done it as an article". So, why don't you? Just add a bit more information, polish it up a bit, and hey presto, you'd have an article which would interest Roar readers, because the presence of Gasnier and McKenzie makes Stade Francais a team of interest to Australian rugby followers.

How long is Mark Gasnier contracted to Stade Francais for. I wonder if Mcenzies sacking will give him an out in his contract as alot of players have an out option if their is a change of coach.

And also Meyer went home primarily for family reasons. Leicester were already doing very well under him (although to be fair they didn't exactly struggle after he left).

"If the sport is to grow in national appeal, Ewen cannot be made coach of the Victorian side. He bored NSW fans to tears right in the heartland. Imagine how his kicking tactics will go down in AFL land! " It might go down well!! Dunno really, but I would have thought that the kid coming back home story would be a good one for the new team.

Great stuff Knives Out I knew you would have the oil on this one. Reading your report sounded to me a lot like the Waratahs when he was coach. No risk taking, stick closely to his game plan and put your faith in the forwards and the defence. Mind you it sounds like the defence came undone at the end as well. He is a very likeable guy and did a lot of good work in NSW rugby helping other clubs increase there skills but as the head coach of a bunch of mirror carriers he fell a bit short, as they all have for a fair while. Q Q Q - how long does it take before a club starts to look at the attitude of it's players and gets rid of the dickheads and the portfolio watchers. Player power has gone over the top in Australia.

Interesting comments from McKenzie: http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_5546100,00.html

While I agree to an extent that Ewen did add some stability to the tahs, I do think that he fell short. Yes the Crusaders were fantastic during his tenure, but I always felt that the Tahs wasted half their side as Ewen only focused on 1-8. Quality players like Lote, Turner, Tahu, Horne etc were all either wasted or not given a chance to develop. I am highly critical of the current tahs coach at present mind you. It seems to be a mentality of 'trying not to lose' in NSW. With an almost all wallaby forward pack, you could make the case that Ewen did not try hard enough to win. I can't recall if it was 2005/2006, but I distinctly remember NSW playing a woeful Reds side in the final round. NSW needed a bonus point win to finish top of the table. No surprise, Ewen played 'safety first' and there was no bonus point. The only chance the tahs had of beating the crusaders was a home final. It was there on the plate. The Tahs negative tactics ensured that they finished 'close' second once again. If the sport is to grow in national appeal, Ewen cannot be made coach of the Victorian side. He bored NSW fans to tears right in the heartland. Imagine how his kicking tactics will go down in AFL land!

I think it's their 'heaviest' home defeat because they conceded 40 points, Tahriffic. Bit of an astonishing statistic for a top tier side. I'm sure a lot of people thought the game was great... apart from Max Guazzini. French rugby is very conservative. Imports will often note how high the general skill levels are but French teams love their packs to bash away at each other, even more so than in England. I think it's a cultural thing.

I'd pick Cheika (on reputation, I haven't seen his side play) with Louden as his backs coach. Huge amount of respect for Mckenzie as a person, he always carried himself incredibly well and respect his playing record, I rank him as my favourite Aussie tighthead, pipping Rod Moore in the Aussie born scrummaging stakes. However Link presided over the devalueing of the Aussie scrum as Eddie's assistant, and continually turned out Dunning, Freier and Baxter as the Tahs front row - its only under Foley that Baxter and Dunning improved, and we've seen this year that Baxter didn't improve enough. Finally the Tahs playing under him when he was under pressure was awful, it was only after he got told that he was out at the end of the season that he took the shackles off, blooded youngsters and his team lifted to make the Super 14 final.

Fair point Tahriffic,but I think it was for different reasons this season. I suspect Phil Waugh is a dominating, demanding captain, not balanced with encouragement, and I am told he absolutely tears strips off the young backs if something they try goes awry. Hence Horne, Beale, Sam N-K, Burgess really stalled in their development. That is my read on it anyway.

Thanks KO - very revealing comments on the workings of French Rugby - makes a lot of sense One thing I haven't understood - and you made the same comment - that the defeat 40-35 by Montbaun was Stades heaviest defeat at home - but to me it appears they only lost by 5 points????? Is this an insight also into French Rugby where defence is a key measure (I thought down here we would have referred to a score like that as a thriller???

who do people think should coach Victoria, Ewen or Michael Cheika (Leinster)? Or maybe Link is the forwards coach under Cheika? (how money does Vic have?)