Laporte Sticks With Novès... For Now

Rumours of Guy Novès demise as coach of France may have been premature, but now he and new FFR president Bernard Laporte must find a way to work together – and fast, writes James Harrington.

France coach Guy Novès does not like anyone to question his authority in matters of rugby.

That much was obvious when he was in charge at Toulouse – a team he guided to nine domestic titles and four European crowns. It has been equally true at the national team’s headquarters in France, Marcoussis, where he is busy plotting the next phase of Les Bleus’ run to the 2019 World Cup – the 2017 Six Nations and a brutal, bruising summer tour of South Africa.

For a while, it seemed there was a problem. It came in the shape of his new boss, Bernard Laporte, recently elected president of the Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR). Reports in one French sports newspaper sent the rumour mill into overdrive about the coach’s future.

Despite signing a contract through to the 2019 World Cup in Japan, it looked for a while that Novès future as France coach was going to be very short. According to reports, if a meeting on Monday with Serge Simon, Laporte’s enforcer at Marcoussis, did not go well, there may have been a new coach in place for the Six Nations.

Laporte had even reportedly spoken to former Montpellier coach Fabien Galthié about taking over. And Galthié had been due to meet Toulon coach Mourad Boudjellal over ‘a future collaboration’, but cancelled to keep his options open in case the big chair at Marcoussis suddenly becomes available, Midi Olympique reported.

For now, there is no vacancy.

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In a video posted on his Facebook page on Monday evening, Simon said the meeting had ‘gone very well’, and signed off with the news that the ‘future of the bleu-blanc-rouge looks rosy’.

Shortly after his election, Laporte had announced that he wanted Novès to stay, so the ball was in the camp of the coach – and he was obviously convinced to stay by Laporte’s right-hand man.

But the president wants results. After the November internationals, he said: “We cannot be satisfied with two defeats at home. I will not be the President who is satisfied with this.”

By that measure, Novès’ first year in charge has been nothing to write home about – fifth in the 2016 Six Nations with two wins from five games; a drawn two-match Test series in Argentina in the summer; and one win from November internationals against Samoa, Australia and New Zealand.

What has delighted fans and pundits was the change in attitude of the French team on his watch. Gone was the stultifying, leaden-footed fear of failure that marked the Lievremont and Saint-Andre years. In three matches in November alone, Les Bleus showed more daring and adventure than in the past decade.

It is off the pitch where the big changes have taken place – dragging power to the office of the national side’s head coach. Among other things, players in pre-selected elite and development squads have domestic game time and training monitored, and the coach has unfettered access to selected players during the international window. He has also cut the team’s media commitments to the bone … which does not sit well with that dedicated follower of cameras, Laporte.

At first, there was no doubt that Novès was the big boss at Marcoussis. That was how he liked it. But Monsieur le President also likes people to know who’s in charge, as long as it is him. The pair have a history of clashes dating back to when Laporte was France coach and Noves was at Toulouse. Relations have since been, at best, frosty,  and shortly before the presidential election, the latter voiced his support for the incumbent in the president’s chair, Pierre Camou. Reportedly, the pair have not met since Laporte took over at the helm of the FFR, despite the fact they both have offices in the same building.

This time, at least, the calendar was on Novès’ side. A month-and-a-half before a major international tournament is no time to jettison a coach, particularly one who has started to win over the hearts and minds of many French fans with strong hints of a return to adventurous rugby.

But Laporte’s insistance on results means Novès honeymoon is over. An ugly win will be preferable to a brave, beautiful defeat. Anything less than four wins at the Six Nations – both home matches against Wales and Scotland, and two wins from the away matches in Rome, London and Dublin may mean the end is nigh.