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Failure to change 'DIY' French hope Irish upset will spark change
Posted: Monday March 20, 2000 03:40 PM
PARIS (Reuters) -- France coach Bernard Laporte is hoping his team's historic defeat by Ireland in the Six Nations championship at the weekend will be a catalyst for change in the French domestic game. The Irish came from behind to beat France 27-25 on Sunday, its first victory over the French since 1983 and its first in Paris since 1972. Young center Brian O'Driscoll ridiculed a defense that has been France's strength this season. The World Cup finalists have now lost its last five matches at its Stade de France home following its second successive grand slam in 1998. The slump, punctuated by France's superb, one-off World Cup semifinal upset of New Zealand last year, points to a failure to make the transition to professionalism that England and now Ireland are managing. "It's not because Ireland beat us 27-25 that they've become better than us," Laporte said. "We've been hiding the truth for four years. The World Cup semifinal is the tree that hides the forest. We had a formidable match against New Zealand, but we forget we conceded 30 points in the final against Australia. "There needs to be a common will so that by the next World Cup everything's in place and we present a competitive French team. Four years pass quickly," he said. Laporte added: "We ought, in France with our 700 professional players and against the 200 that Ireland have, manage without 10 injured players. "But they have concentrated a large part of their best players in two teams, they only play 20 matches a year, but amongst the best. And the rest of the time they train hard. We just do DIY."
Tactical failureLaporte pointed to his team's failure, largely through the lack of experience in a much-changed back line, to find a tactical answer to Ireland's late fightback."What we need is for the players to be confronted with an O'Driscoll 10 times a year. We need 20 international matches a year. "It's time for a radical change in policy," said Laporte, who wants to see the French club championship streamlined. "We need to know if the clubs want to do it. If we want to progress towards excellence, and that's what interests me, we must absolutely make these changes."
New championshipLaporte said he wants to see a strong domestic club championship rather than the current 24-team competition in which players in the best sides have just a handful of hard matches a season.He said that he was not looking for a provincial competition like the Southern Hemisphere nations because France has a club culture. But players are not being tested enough at top level, he says.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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