1
'It's the system' - Bernard Laporte comes to the defence of the man he appointed
FFR rugby boss Bernard Laporte believes Jacques Brunel is still the right man to have in charge of the France national team.
ADVERTISEMENT
Brunel was given the job by Laporte after the French federation unceremoniously sacked Guy Noves in December 2017, a controversial parting of the ways that has seen the ousted coach take his former employers to an employment tribunal this Thursday in Toulouse.
Poor results was one reason why Noves lost his job even though he was contracted through to the end of the 2019 World Cup.
However, while Brunel’s three wins from 13 matches is a 23 percent record that is worse than Noves’ 35.7 percent (seven wins and a draw in 21 matches), Laporte has called for patience following a terrible start to their latest Six Nations campaign. Their opening round home loss to Wales was followed by last Sunday’s 44-8 hammering away to England.
#RUGBY – Bernard #Laporte : « Le système fabrique des joueurs qui ne sont plus au niveau » https://t.co/aye7KWwMwp
— Le Dauphiné Libéré (@ledauphine) February 13, 2019
“We will not react to every defeat, we have to think about finding solutions,” he told French newspaper Dauphiné Libéré in an interview published on Thursday morning prior to the Noves hearing in Toulouse got under way.
“It’s been 10 years since we did not win. I’m always told that it’s the coaches’ fault, but after a while you have to realise that it’s the system that makes players not better at this level.”
The 2011 World Cup finalists last won the Six Nations in 2010. Since then their Top 14 league has been flooded by a multitude of big money overseas signings, a trend that has stymied the conveyor belt of indigenous French talent making the breakthrough.
ADVERTISEMENT
(Continuing reading below…)
Laporte believes solving this problem goes much deeper than securing winning results at Test level. “We must change things… and go even further,” he said.
“The appointment of Jacques Brunel has helped us to better understand the clubs, to work better together in the image of the convention signed with the clubs,” continued the FFR boss, who insisted he is optimistic for the future. “We have young under-20 people who were world champions eight months ago.”
Noves is seeking compensation worth around €2.9million, a sum consisting of the remaining wages due and various damages.
It’s believed, though, that the French federation will allege that Noves had a brittle attitude towards his players and his relations were too distant with the Top 14 clubs.
ADVERTISEMENT
A verdict on the hearing’s outcome won’t be available until April 8.
Comments on RugbyPass
Ben it's beyond their comprehension-
202 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
1 Go to commentsMad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
1 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
9 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
9 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
5 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
4 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
4 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
4 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
202 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
9 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
9 Go to commentsProbably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
202 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
202 Go to comments