Shaun Edwards' Wasps-influenced tactic for quickly tackling the language barrier in France
Shaun Edwards has revealed his approach to tackling the language barrier now that he is defence coach at Fabien Galthie’s France.
The Englishman learned his trade on the books at Wasps and Wales over a considerable period of time, but he is now very much out of his comfort zone having started working with the French the weekend after he returned from the recent World Cup in Japan.
In his first major interview about his new role in a country he claims he always wanted coach in, Edwards told Midi Olympique, the bi-weekly French rugby newspaper, how he is settling in ahead of the 2020 Six Nations which kicks off for Les Bleus with a February 2 home match versus France in Paris.
In tackling the language barrier, he explained he had taken advice from Serge Betsen and is leaning on the influence of new France team boss Raphael Ibanez, both of whom he coached at Wasps.
“Wherever I worked, I adopted an attitude that allowed me to adapt to them. I have no fear,” he insisted to Midi. “Players only want one thing: to win. So they want coaches who want the same thing and who help them get there. And then I’ve already trained French players in the past, like Raphael Ibanez or Serge Betsen.
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“I recently met Serge to talk to him about it. He explained to me the differences in training in France, the relationships with coaches, etc. He gave me lots of good advice that I will keep very precious. It’s someone that I respect a lot.
“Raphael is one of the reasons that made me work with France today. It also reminds me of a discussion I had with him the other day: obviously, I am not yet bilingual in French because I cannot have a long conversation.
“However, I can train in French because when you train, you have to be concise. When he arrived at the Wasps in 2005, Rapha remembered: in the field, I said only two or three words, four maximum. It helped him a lot.
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“So I hope these short sentences will also help the French team. To come back to your question, the presence of Raphael played a big role in my decision. Because he is a professional and he can create a competitive environment for players and coaches so that everyone can progress.
“I always wanted to train in France. I have always loved your rugby and watched the Top 14 carefully. My son studied in France too, and he speaks your language fluently. In short, I always suspected that I would eventually train in France one day or another.
“This desire also came with my confrontations with the French teams: I still remember the Heineken Cup games against Toulouse when I coached the Wasps. It made me want to work in this environment.”
It is not every day that a player candidly admits he was in the wrong… step forward Clermont's Damian Penaudhttps://t.co/9noGPQYXy9
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 2, 2020
He didn’t hang around getting stuck in after Wales’ World Cup finished with a bronze medal defeat to New Zealand. “I came back from the World Cup on Monday and the following Saturday I was in France to start working with the French staff in the village where Fabien was born.
“We started our meetings, and also met the media, which was a very important moment. We also visited the clubs but above all, we had the opportunity to train together.
“We did it with Massy’s team, and we worked the same way as we will with France’s XV. It was very beneficial for me, I was able to train in French. I want to do it with the XV of France. We will repeat the experience in two weeks with the under-20s in Italy.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments