Lessons for RFU to learn

THE French Revolution is celebrated all over the landmarks of Paris and the current one could be celebrated back here at the Stade de France next season.

France have finally got their act together and they have a proper team. From the president Bernard Laporte downwards through coach Fabien Galthie and his Antoine Dupont-inspired team, the French are starting to get things right and the RFU should take note.

The ceasefire has been called in the club-v-country row which means the players do not get caught in the crossfire and it is bearing fruit with a home World Cup just over a year away.

That ship sailed with England in 1995 when the RFU gave too much power to the clubs as the professional era slunk into the game and they have been paying the price, barring a perfect storm of players and staff in 2003, ever since. There were thousands of England fans on the Eurostar on Friday and around the bars of Gare du Nord yesterday but it didn’t seem like that in the ground. The French were out in force and they were in the mood for a party.

The French national anthem, La Marseillaise, has never been sung so loudly at this spaceship of a stadium and there is a good reason for that. Eddie Jones can talk about building for the 2023 tournament but France, and the men in suits who run the whole game in this country, really did something about it. They crushed Italy and Scotland and got the job done in tight games against Ireland and France and here they were put under the cosh in parts by England. But the result was never in doubt.

The original French Revolution ended in November 1799 but this one shows no sign of stopping.

■ BIG screens at the stadium showed images of former Argentine rugby international Federico Aramburu who was killed in Paris yesterday morning.

Aramburu, 42, who spent much of his career in France, died after a reported drive-by shooting.