Player power rules in Les Bleus captain row
Guirado has full backing in mutiny against coach England are ‘tons better’ than us, says Medard
France’s senior players have given their unequivocal backing to captain Guilhem Guirado after blocking an attempt by Jacques Brunel and assistant Fabien Galthie to remove the hooker from his position.
Guirado is expected to be among the replacements for Saturday’s game with England – a team whom Maxime Medard has labelled “tons better” than France – after falling out with the coaching staff, who wanted to strip him of the captaincy before the Six Nations.
It is understood the majority of the squad objected and, in a show of player power, insisted Guirado remain their captain. Despite the fact that Jefferson Poirot is likely to lead the side out against England, the senior players yesterday voiced their support for Guirado.
“There is no debate on the captain,” centre Gael Fickou said. “Guilhem Guirado is our captain. He always has that influence on our set-up. We are all behind him.”
Full-back Medard, the only surviving member of the 2011 France side who reached the World Cup final after staging a coup against then head coach Marc Lievremont, also pledged his support for the captain.
Medard said: “For us, Guilhem is the captain, and when he is not on the field, it is Jeff [Poirot] or Louis [Picamoles]. There are no discussions in our group around this.”
The players’ emphatic response followed a dramatic two days in which Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal, who fell out with Galthie in 2014, called on them to overthrow the coaching staff after three underwhelming wins over Argentina, the United States and Tonga.
Brunel will be replaced by Galthie as head coach after the World Cup and there is a sense among French rugby insiders that the 65-year-old is increasingly resigned to the player-led approach.
The Daily Telegraph also understands that this is the second successive World Cup in which Brunel has been the target of anger from his players, with the Italian squad he coached in 2015 thought to have been upset after he refused to take their concerns into consideration. France have been talking down their chances of beating England, with Medard claiming that Eddie Jones’s side – as well as potential quarter-final opponents Wales and Australia – are far superior.
“At the moment, England are still tons better than us as a side,” he said. “It’s up to us to do what it takes to put our game in place, do something good and build confidence before the quarter-final.
“Wales or Australia, it does not change anything, they are both better than us. It’s up to us to do what it takes to be present on D-day. They have more consistency than us.
“We have won in difficult circumstances but we won and that’s important, but there are many teams who are more consistent than us. But we are able to do many things well enough to win.”