Failure? Not me, it was the system – St Andre
Tignes, the Alpine resort which favours altitude training at 6,000 feet, is well known to Philippe Saint-Andre. It is where he took his France team to prepare for the rigours of a World Cup a year ago. Now he is back working there after one of the most catastrophic reigns in history. Teaching kids and teenagers in summer camps the skills he found so hard to align for his country.
It’s a nice little earner while he tries to re-assemble the pieces of a coaching career that were left strewn far and wide by four years of shabby results and performances.
But Saint-Andre wants us to know that he has turned down offers from England, Italy and Japan and feels the “desire gradually coming back”.
Whether he will once again reach the heights of an English title win with Sale, a spell with the Toulon elite and the prestige of the France job is, of course, open to question.
What is certain is that he does not consider himself the failure that many of his compatriots do. And, in his first interview since the closing debacle, he stands his corner.
Tignes, in fact, was the backdrop to his conviction that what his squad needed most to succeed was a ferocious commitment to improving their physical condition.
He said:“The one big regret was our second half against Ireland when we got taken on in all our supposed strong points, the lineouts, the scrums and the rucks.
“The week after against New Zealand was only the consequence of our defeat by Ireland.The All Blacks were well above their opponents on what they had shown over the four years preceding the World Cup.
“I repeat, my main disillusion came from the match against Ireland. I was convinced that, after a good, demanding preparation, we were going to catch up with the main European nations.”
That is an interesting way of minimising the historic 62-13 quarter final capitulation to New Zealand that will always remain a stain on their record books.
But Saint-Andre not only believes he did pretty well in the job, but reckons he has left behind him the structure for a robust challenge for the next World Cup in Japan.
Asked whether he had got the most out of his squad, he replied: “Yes, not far off with the availability and means at my disposal. My successor Guy Noves has recognised that. France’s potential has been getting less for ten years.
“However, the players I launched, Slimani, Guirado, Ben Arous, Maestri, Machenaud, Fofana, Fickou, Spedding, Dulin and even Huget will be there for several years and are going to form the framework of a squad which will have reached maturity in 2019.”
The new convention between Federation and League, which gives the French coach far longer time with his internationals, has left two presidents, Jacky Lorenzetti, of champions Racing 92, and Rene Bouscatel, of Toulouse, spluttering with anger.
But Saint-Andre is all for it, maintaining it would have made a difference if he had been able to benefit from the agreement.
He said:“This is a real advance. I notice that, out of 15 key measures, there are a dozen I was asking for from the start of my mandate.
“At the time, I was taken for a madman and people were firing at me from all sides.The convention is going to give Guy Noves the means to work on equal terms with the other nations.
“The French system should no longer burn its players as it has done with Maestri and Fofana, for example.
“Having a real close season is essential to regenerate and progress technically as well as physically. Which is really impossible with guys playing 11 months out of 12.
“What is horrible about France is that you need a failure or a tragedy for people to react. It was urgent to reform the managing of the international play- ers. Until now, France has been functioning like Romania, Fiji and Samoa and I say all that without lacking respect to them.”
Saint-Andre says he complained long and loud to his Federation bosses Pierre Camou and Serge Blanco about the club v country tensions that he believed were undermining his job.
He explained: “They told me to be patient, that a new convention was to be put in place and that it was not possible to change the one that ran until this June.
“I am all the more angry for the fact we have good players in France.We should favour French players on team sheets, so they are regularly in Top 14 line-ups whereas today they are in competition with players of world class.”
More easily said than done, you might say.
Saint-Andre’s diatribe was featured in French rugby bible Midi Olympique, which also published a stronglyworded response from Toulouse boss Bouscatel.
He said: “There will be ten matches which clubs will play without their internationals. The impact is considerable for teams such as Toulouse who were top of the table last year before the Six Nations Tournament and sixth after it.
“If we play almost half of our home matches without our internationals, the sponsors will no longer follow us, same thing for the season-ticket holders.”
Perhaps Saint-Andre might get to agree with him if his next job is a return to the Top 14.
“The French system should no longer burn its players as it has with Maestri and Fofana for example”