Phillippe Saint-Andre has announced that he will be stepping down as France coach at the end of the World Cup in October. Saint-Andre was with the team for four years, and it must be said, France had one if its worst records under his tenure.
Saint-Andre succeeded Marc Lievremont as French coach, at the end of the 2011 World Cup. Despite France appearing in the final of that tournament, the French rugby team were in disarray. The papers at the time were filled with stories of in-fighting between the coaching staff and players, with rumours that the players had staged a coup and removed Lievermont as coach.
This was seen during the medal awards ceremony, when Lieveremont was separate from the players.
Saint-Andre inherited a French team in turmoil and one of his first statements involved restoring pride to the team and reclaiming France’s former glory.
Unfortunately, he failed in this regard and France had a poor record during his time as coach. Lievremont would actually have a better record, having won a Grand Slam, in 2010, And reached a World Cup final, in 2011.
Of the four Six Nations’ tournaments France competed in under Saint-Andre’s leadership (2012-2015), the team failed to place higher than fourth, and even received the wooden spoon in 2013. France also suffered regular defeats to the other participating teams, including lowly Italy.
Ireland, for example, had had a poor run of results against France for many years. Ireland had only won one game against France, between 2004 and 2011, in 2009. This all changed under Saint-Andre’s time. Of the four matches played between Ireland and France, 2012-2015, Ireland drew two and won two
Outside the Six Nations, France’s record wasn’t much better. In the four years under Saint-Andre’s leadership, France played ten games against the SANZAR Nations, losing eight and winning two. They lost all four Tests against New Zealand, won two out of five Tests against Australia and lost against South Africa.
France also lost all these games played in the Southern Hemisphere, including a three-Test series defeat to the All Blacks. France’s only wins came at home.
France only won 15 of the 37 games under Saint-Andre’s leadership, which is close to a third of matches played.
Like Lievremont, Saint-Andre also publicly derided his players in the media, which is a good indicator that things are falling apart.
Saint-Andre was not helped by the fact that top players in France are required to play for their club teams in the Top 14 during the international season. While players in other countries are given respite from club duties, French players play non-stop for their clubs.
This has been a large reason why France’s international results have been so poor in recent years and this will continue unless the French Federation are tougher with the clubs.
Whoever succeeds Saint-Andre as French coach will face this same problem. The French Federation are already in the process of picking a successor, with former French international, Raphael Ibanez as front-runner. Ibanez currently coaches Begles-Bordeaux.
Phillippe Saint-Andre was a great servant for French rugby as a player, during the late 1980s and ’90s. France played a stylish type of rugby at the time, a champagne rugby. Those days are long gone and Saint-Andre as a coach has been a key proponent of ending that joie de vivre.
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