Notebook

French are easily distracted

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Posted: Wednesday November 03, 1999 02:16 PM

Assistant Pierre Villepreux and the rest of the French coaches face the daunting task of keeping their team focused. AP

CARDIFF, Wales (AP) -- The French made no secret of their intention to celebrate their shock 43-31 World Cup semifinal victory over New Zealand in style, spend Monday recovering and start focussing on Saturday's final against Australia after that.

But French officials are still trying to keep their players' minds on the decider.

"You know the French mentality," said assistant coach Pierre Villepreux. "Sometimes we do not have the capacity to be really focussed ... if we see a nice girl for instance we tend to look automatically, that could be a distraction. We are French you know.

"We have to do a lot to channel some concentration on this game -- we try and do that in a week but it's not easy.

"They have to forget we beat the All Blacks, that's the only chance we have."

Crash diet

The Wallaby center caught a stomach virus a day before Australia's 27-21 extra-time win against defending champion South Africa last Saturday and he did it all on an empty stomach -- his brilliant performance fueled by just a couple of pieces of toast in 48 hours.

"I lost about three kilos [6 1/2 pounds] before the game. It's the lightest I've been for a while, but I'm feeling a lot fresher now," said Horan. "I'm starting to eat a bit more now."

Horan made three spectacular bursts through the Springboks defense and was the only genuine line breaker of the game. He put his performance down to discipline.

"Once you decide to play there's no excuses, so I went in there thinking I was 100 percent."

On Saturday he could become one of only three players, along with teammates John Eales and Jason Little, to win two World Cups when the Wallabies, champions in 1991, clash with France in the final at the Millennium Stadium.

Aussie treble

"We had some success winning the cricket world cup, then the girls also won the Netball World Cup as well, so if we win the rugby it'll make three," he said.

Australia and France also clash in tennis' Davis Cup final in France from Dec. 3-5, with the winner earning the rating as the top tennis team in the world.

Meanwhile, the French are chasing a World Cup football double after upsetting Brazil to clinch the soccer World Cup in France last year.

Eddie no longer an Eagle

United States national team director Jack Clark clearly thinks O'Sullivan, who spent three years as the Eagles assistant coach, should be given more responsibility by his new employers.

"Eddie has made an outstanding contribution to USA Rugby, and is a very good personal friend," said Clark. "He is an accomplished coach with a bright future. If the Irish are smart, they won't delay in naming him their head coach."

Ireland was led into the World Cup by New Zealander Warren Gatland, who came under predictable fire when the team lost a playoff to Argentina and failed to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in World Cup history.

The U.S. had been hoping O'Sullivan might take over from Clark, who has stepped aside as head coach.

Left without an obvious choice, the U.S. has posted an application form on its website at www.usa-eagles.org/coachfr.html.

Horan top of the lot

Horan's brilliant display against the Springboks in the semifinal won approval from a 12-man judging panel chaired by Welsh rugby legend Gareth Edwards.

Two French players can put the pressure on Horan in Saturday's final. Lock Abdel Benazzi, a major force behind France beating New Zealand, is second and his teammate Christophe Lamaison is third.

The winner will receive a gold trophy from sponsors Famous Grouse, plus a check for 2,500 pounds (USS$4,000) to be given to charity.

If Horan has another magic match and finishes on top it will be his second victory for charity in the tournament.

He won 10,000 pounds (US$16,000) from tournament sponsor Guinness for scoring the first try inside two minutes, in Australia's opening match against Romania in Belfast.

Video nasty

The Wallabies' video technician was up into the small hours on Monday morning, preparing material about the French for Wallabies coach Rod Macqueen and his players.

"We had started to prepare for the All Blacks, especially when they were 24-10 in front," said Macqueen. "We know their game well and we have lots of material on them -- but we suddenly had to do some more homework on France.

"Our video guy was definitely the one with the biggest problem on Sunday."

 

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