Marc Lievremont's madness destroying French rugby

My second favourite rugby team has always been France.

They always seemed so glamorous, so exciting to watch and spectacularly unpredictable.

French teams always seemed to have some sort of edge hidden under a layer of studied nonchalance and incidentally, the best kit in the six nations.

Add in the fact that they actually won matches; it often made them a much more enticing prospect than Scotland.

It is therefore somewhat unfortunate that they now seem to be led by a madman.

Marc Lievremont has never really been convincing as head coach of France.

He did win a grand slam in the 2010 six nations but in three years he has named a staggering 81 different players to play for France.

His previous low as coach was a 59-16 defeat last autumn at home against Australia but the humbling 22-21 defeat against Italy is even more humiliating.

More embarrassing perhaps though, could be Lievremont’s reaction to the, accusing his players of betraying the national jersey.

He said: “they betrayed us, they betrayed me and they have betrayed the French national team shirt.

“In terms of the tactics deployed, it defied belief. I did not recognise anything in their performance that we had worked on.

“Do you really think play told them to play as they did against Italy? I was ashamed. I do not have the impression that we asked them to walk on the moon. I do not ask for complicated things. This match was a hallucination. I do not want to clear myself but they invented things on the pitch,” he said.

In terms of bizarre sporting reactions it is right up there with the last time a French national team went into meltdown – last summer during the Football world cup when the players turned on their coach Raymond Domenech.

The similarities are striking, the combination of poor results and eccentric management are leading the French rugby team into mire.

Lievremont reacted has reacted to the Italy defeat by dropping several experienced players from his squad – Sebastian Chabal, Yannick Jauzion, Clement Poitrenaud, Jerome Thion, Sylvain Marconnet and Aurelian Rougerie have all been released.

Judging by Lievremont’s words many of them are unlikely to return.

“They are lacking in courage,” he said.

“They are good guys but they are cursed with what is clearly cowardice. They are not even capable of recognising their mistakes.”

This seems a bit rich coming from Lievremont who has never acknowledged his part in dragging French rugby into a downward spiral.

His first act as coach was to call up a load of little known and inexperienced players to the French team to make a point to the bigger clubs.

Of these, only Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc have established themselves as regulars and only Parra looks truly comfortable on the international scene.

His selection against Italy saw him drop the two outstanding forwards in his team Thomas Domingo and Imanol Harinordiquy in favour of veterans Marconnet and Chabal who both looked well off the pace of international rugby, even against Italy.

God help them against the All Blacks of New Zealand at the World Cup.

The French performance was muddled and confused with no discernable shape or game plan.

For Lievremont to absolve himself of all blame is ridiculous and will further drive a wedge between himself and his players.

The swagger and the verve has gone from French rugby.

Lievremont has ripped the magic out of them and it is a great shame.

Perhaps it isn’t the greatest French team ever but they are certainly capable of playing at a far higher standard than this.

Normally firing a coach just before a world cup would look like suicide.

For France at the moment the opposite is true, Lievremont must go.

He was given a chance to redeem himself after the world cup but all he has done is drag his team further into the mire.

On the bright side they still have the best kit.

Quality rugby in the six nations - not really.

Is it just me, or is the standard of rugby in the six nations not that good?

It has been intense certainly, with several absorbing matches the France games against Ireland and England.

However, from a quality point of view there has not been anything that will have New Zealand, Australia or South Africa quaking ahead of the world cup this autumn.

Games have been scrappy for the most part, still devilled by inconsistent refereeing, especially at the scrum.

England look certain to win the championship though a trip to Dublin on the final weekend could derail their hopes of a Grand Slam. Of all the teams they have shown the most attacking intent with Toby Flood the only playmaker in the tournament that looks happy playing on the gain line and indeed breaking it.

Although Chris Ashton has taken the plaudits for his finishing, it has been Flood that has put in for his tries.

Ben Youngs has also been hugely impressive and his attacking threat round the fringes has made the space further out for Flood.

Considering how Scotland have defended round the side of rucks, I would be surprised if we do not see Youngs make a few breaks during the Calcutta Cup match this Sunday.

Their pack have been impressive too despite missing Tom Croft, Courtney Lawes and Lewis Moody.

Tom Wood has taken to international rugby as if he was born to play it and James Haskell is finally delivering on his potential.

However, they still have a few huge flaws, Hape at twelve is certainly huge but he is a deeply flawed player. He offers very little in attack for a start. We keep hearing about his offloading game but there has been little evidence of this. His defence is also poor and he has been caught out of position several times in the tournament. Mike Tindall outside him has been little better with some horrible mistakes that a player with his experience simply shouldn’t be making. He genuinely seems incapable of passing the ball and he offers just as much with the ball in hand as Hape, not a lot. He is at least solid in defence but his lack of pace is there to be exploited.

Until England can find some international standard centres they are going to be limited in what they can achieve. They will be boosted up front by a return for the above mentioned trio, especially Croft who is their one genuinely world class forward. However, I would still expect them to lose against the southern giants more often than they would beat them.

France have been very disappointing.

When you consider the players available to them they should be much more impressive than they are.

They should have lost to Ireland and would have done if it wasn’t for Ireland constantly giving away penalties in dangerous positions. They beat Scotland thanks to some inspired counter attacks, proof that they are still capable of turning on the magic. However, for the most part they have been stodgy with an aging set of forwards who relish the fight up front but aren’t too keen on flowing running rugby. This policy of big is best is prevalent in the backs too with the continuing selection of the aging Yannick Jauzion and Damien Traille, formally brilliant, now past it.

Australia tore them to shreds in the autumn and would do it again now, it’s just none of the other six nations teams are capable of exploiting weaknesses in the way the southern hemisphere giants do.

Ireland have some things to be pleased with. Another aging team , they are starting to show signs of finding the talent to replace the fading stars post world cup. Mike Ross and Cian Healy seem to finally be the answer to the front row problems that have dogged them and a back row of Stephen Ferris, Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip will be the best in the northern hemisphere.

Luke Fitzgerald continues to develop nicely at full back and could well be, long term, the man who fills Brian O’Driscoll’s thirteen jersey.

However, in the short term, they are still reliant on Ronan O’Gara’s boot to win them games and their discipline is suspect. Paul O’Connell is another who is beginning to show his age.

They simply aren’t good enough to compete with the best in the world, a fact that is true of all the six nations teams. England are the best equipped to compete but the only team I would be willing to put money on for the world cup would be New Zealand. If they don’t win it, Australia will.

Meanwhile, let’s sit back and enjoy some clunky but competitive fare from the six nations.

Cheap Tries Cost Scotland Dear

ANOTHER weekend and another six nations defeat for a Scotland team rocketing towards a wooden spoon decider against Italy.

This time, however, the performance was more encouraging than against Wales but still riddled with inconsistencies, especially in pressure defensive situations.

All three of Ireland’s tries came from weak or poorly organised Scottish defence and for a team that still struggles to score tries that is far too costly.

That is not to say that there weren’t positives to come out of the match.

Richie Gray was, as he was against France, Scotland’s best player and Sean Lamont took to the inside centre role with ease.

Gray’s performance was outstanding, dominating Lions captain Paul O’Connell in the line out and making several thunderous runs. Lamont was his typical robust self with the ball in hand, making ground every time he had the ball. He also made a fantastic try saving tackle on Keith Earls at the end of the first half.

Scotland coach Andy Robinson criticised referee Nigel Owens after the game after the Welshman refused to sin bin any Irish players despite the penalty count of 13-4 to Ireland.

He compounded this by showing Allan Jacobson yellow for a technical scrummaging offence, at least partly caused by a bizarre refereeing performance which saw the two packs so close to each other that they were rubbing heads before the scrum engaged.

However, the uneven refereeing aside, Robinson and his players must be waking up this morning with a strong feeling of missing a big opportunity.

Scotland became notorious in the last few years for winning games by shutting out opposition and then relying on Chris Paterson to kick enough penalties to keep them in front.

Ireland were there for the taking with Paterson’s kicking in reliably fine form to punish poor discipline from the away team.

However, defensive frailty from the Scots gifted Ireland three absurdly simple tries.

Nick De Luca, who otherwise had a good game, was badly at fault for the opening score from Jamie Heaslip, turning an easily defended two on two into an overlap after rushing out of position.

The second came from a terribly misjudged defensive lineout which resulted in a scrum five metres out for Ireland after Ross Ford’s throw missed everyone and forced Mike Blair to carry over.

The second came after Ronan O’Gara, the smallest man on the park at the time, shrugged his way through a tame tackle by Ford to score.

All three were from unacceptable errors in the most important area of the field, about five metres from the Scot’s own try line. If they had at least defended one of these tries properly then the game would have been theirs.

Ireland were still not convincing, except for veteran fly half Ronan O’Gara who gave a flawless kicking display out of hand to keep Scotland pinned back in their own half. Elsewhere, Sean O’Brien was very impressive again and Cian Healy is showing signs of being the answer to Ireland’s front row prayers.

As for Scotland, the trip to Twickenham in two weeks looks daunting and if they do not up their ideas defensively, England will rip them apart.

England’s rugged, gritty win over France showed a team that can win ugly as well as playing the exciting running rugby which was so impressive against Italy. On this kind of form, they look likely to win the Grand Slam and it would be richly deserved.

Scotland, at the very least, need to put a good fight to go into the final weekend to decide the destination of the wooden spoon on some sort of high.

They also need to remember to defend their try line, it kind of helps.

Half baked Contador verdict causes more problems than it solves

ALBERTO Contador has been cleared of drug taking and is free to begin competing again.

This is either going to be the best news possible for the sport of cycling or the worst.

Contador, up until last year was indisputably the greatest stage racer of his generation with three Tour De France wins and victories in the Giro D’Italia and the Vuelta e Espana, completing a Grand Slam of cycling’s top races.

He was the poster boy, along with Mark Cavendish for a cleaner sport, free of the paranoia and regular drug test failures of the Armstrong days.

That was until, on course for his third Tour De France title last summer, he failed a drugs test for a trace sample of little known fat burning/muscle building drug clenbuterol.

What followed was a long and occasionally farcical examination of the case while Contador himself blamed everybody but himself for the positive test, including enraging the Spanish meat industry by claiming the clebuterol must of come from some contaminated beef.

Now the Spainard has been cleared after being given a judgement of having not taken the drug knowingly.

The problem now is that he was cleared not by the UCI, cycling’s governing body but by the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC).

It’s not for me to judge but surely they might have a vested interest in making sure that Contador is free to compete?

It’s not only me that’s asking questions.

In today’s (16/2/11) Times, Owen Slot describes the RFEC as “the Alberto Contador fan club” and UCI chairman Pat McQuaid no less has spoken out against political involvment in the case.

With the Armstrong case looming in the background like a monster ready to stamp all over the sport’s last two decades, it is essential that Alberto Contador is either completely clean or he is banned.

To give a decision which invites yet more criticism is going to bring further questions of over the sports integrity and until there is a definitive verdict, then cycling remains on probation.

Cycle to Work scheme boosts employee wellbeing and engagment

NEARLY nine in ten employers believe that the cycle to work scheme improves employee engagement and wellbeing.

Research has found that 87 per cent of participants in the scheme have found their health improving while 98 per cent say that they would recommend cycle to work to work mates.

This is according to the “Behavioural Impact Analysis” research project, conducted by the Cycle to Work Alliance.

Cycle to Work was introduced in 1999 and allows employers to buy tax exempt bicycles and other cycling equipment which they then loan to their workers.

Employees are often given the opportunity to buy the equipment from their employer at the end of the loan period.

Eighty-four per cent of the 44,500 people surveyed for the research rated the scheme an “easy and important means of staying fit.”

Mark Smith Cycle to Work Alliance representative said: "Employers are seeing the benefits of a healthier and more engaged workforce - vital as the country moves out of the recession."

Norman Baker MP, parliamentary under secretary of state for transport said: "The benefits of cycling run much deepr than balance sheets or carbon footprints. It is a crucial life skill as well as offering easy, exhilirating exercise. I would therefore like to congratulate the alliance on the positive impact it's business and services have had in generating awareness and rasing cycling levels."

The scheme has also been praised for encouraging workers who had never cycled to work before to take part and also for its positive environmental benefits with users saving 133,442 tonnes of CO2 each year.

Orginally published - employeewellnessmagazine.com 11/2/11

Scotland "Unacceptable" and "Abysmal" against Wales

“Unacceptable.”

That is Andy Robinson’s blunt appraisal of his Scotland side’s miserable display as they lost 24-6 to Wales at Murrayfield.

Replacement back Sean Lamont went even further saying: “It was abysmal; the boys need to go away and have a good look at themselves.

“The players owe it to the coaches and the fans. I’m sick of having this year after year, valiant losers or whatever.

“We need to pull our fingers out. There have been too many games gone by where we have been also rans.

“It’s not good enough.”

Lamont, probably the only player to come out of the game with a positive performance has hit the nail on the head. Once again Scotland managed to put in an impressive and plucky performance against France in Paris, albeit a losing one, and then follow it up with a crushingly poor one against Wales.

The Welsh were better than they were against England a week ago. James Hook brought dynamism to the playmaker role, the back row was impressive and Jamie Roberts looked much more like his old self, although he spent the day running at, or indeed through, the defensive open door that is Dan Parks.

They were not however, a team that should be winning test matches away from home by eighteen points.

Scotland looked lost and without a plan. They shuffled sideways until they were tackled and then proceeded to throw ineffectual offloads until they were turned over or spilled the ball. Sam Warburton, the Welsh openside has received a lot of praise for his work at the breakdown and quite rightly, he is the closest a northern hemisphere has to the majestic Aussie David Pocock. However, Scotland made life easy for him, frequently getting isolated and allowing the master poacher to get his hands on the ball.

The two occasions that Scotland did manage to build up any meaningful spells of possession, they eventually got bored and cross kicked. Both times they turned the ball over.

It was a return to the bad old days for Dan Parks. So assured a year ago, his decision making was deeply flawed, his defence nonexistent, a fact that Wales exploited and even his kicking, normally his great strength, was poor. Which begs the question – when is Andy Robinson going to give Ruaridh Jackson a chance? If you can’t try him out when the game is in such desperate need of an injection of something, anything from the Scots and the incumbent is playing as poorly as Parks was, he will never get his chance. I’m not saying that bringing Jackson on would have changed anything but Scotland have got to give him a shot because Parks on present form simply will not do.

As stated earlier, the only player to come out of it was Sean Lamont who looked like the dynamic, dangerous runner he was when he first appeared on the international scene. He even made a brilliant try saving tackle on Jamie Roberts when the rest of his team appeared to have given up. He must start against Ireland as well as his brother Rory who should have been at full back for the opening two games anyway in place of Hugo Southwell. The Stade Francais man has long been ineffectual for Scotland and his selection ahead of the younger Lamont is baffling.

One poor performance does not make this current crop of Scottish players a bad one. Results up until now have been pretty good and hopefully they can bounce back against Ireland in two weeks. They really have to otherwise things will go from bad to worse as they face we still need to play a rampant English team. Whatever happens, this display against Wales will hang heavily on Scottish rugby fans for the next two weeks and Andy Robinson as well. It’s not going to be enough to be plucky losers now, results are essential.

Spirited Cumnock for-lorne at Oban

Oban Lorne 33 - 6 Cumnock

A BRAVE effort from Cumnock is not enough to stop a powerful Oban Lorne pack.

Normally teams travelling to Oban arrive with a certain stiffness of limbs following the long bus journey. However, Cumnock inadvertently avoided this after arriving three hours early and having time to enjoy lunch in the “seafood capital of Scotland.”

As a result both teams were raring to go from the start and Cumnock made their intentions felt early on with a big hit from Scott Houston and Graham Hunter turning the ball over straight from the kick off. However, Oban re-gathered the ball and set their game plan in motion, keeping the ball tight and working their way up into a position where Cumnock gave away a penalty, giving the home side an early three point advantage.

Cumnock did not take this lying down and fired straight back up the park with Conor Nisbet carrying strongly in the midfield. The scrum was also extremely solid despite a major weight disadvantage with props Graham Montgomery and Donald Hunter bolstered by the return of second row Rab Cross to the side. Cumnock won a penalty of their own close to the right hand touchline but Craig McWhirter’s kick drifted narrowly wide.

However, Cumnock kept the pressure on and worked their way into Oban territory again. A break from the back of the scrum by number 8 David Kerr was followed by further burst from fellow back row Stuart Hunter. Oban gave away another penalty in their desperation to stop the Cumnock charge and Craig McWhirter stepped up to knock over the simple penalty to level the score.

However, Oban continued to dominate proceedings through their pack although Cumnock put in an admirable defensive effort led by Mick Harkin, making the most of his call up into the back row. An unlikely sight in the Cumnock side was the presence of regular hooker Graham Hunter on the wing and he brought his usual abrasive game to the wide channels with some tough tackles and strong carries.

Oban dominated possession in the second quarter and despite a couple of missed penalties they always looked the most likely team to score next. A rare moment of Cumnock ill discipline allowed Oban to kick into the corner and after a couple of drives managed to fragment the defence for the opening try of the game.

Buoyed by this breakthrough, the home side continued to press although Cumnock almost grabbed a try against the run of play when Findlay Hamilton made a burst from full back. However, his kick ahead trickled over the line allowing the covering defender to touch down to allow his team the chance to clear their lines.

It was to no one great surprise when Oban managed to grab a second try in a mirror image of their first, forcing their way over after a series of drives despite committed defence from Scott Houston and Donald Hunter.

The second half started brightly for Cumnock with half backs Craig McWhirter and Scott Houston sniping at the home defence. Conor Nisbet continued an assured performance at inside centre and was well supported by Martin Thomson at outside centre. Cumnock had an excellent early chance when Gavin Kerr made a scintillating break down the right wing after beating his opposite number. Some clever interplay with Houston kept the move alive but an excellent covering tackle eventually halted the momentum. The ball was recycled but a loose pass allowed Oban to hack the ball clear and clear the danger. Cumnock eventually got something to show for their efforts after a composed penalty kick from Craig McWhirter.

Oban’ powerful forward play brought them back into the game and they set up camp right on the Cumnock try line. However, Oban grew increasingly frustrated as they were unable to puncture the red and black wall of defenders with Paul Miller putting in a series of try saving tackles and Blair McMillan putting his body on the line to hold the line intact. The home side eventually spent ten minutes camped on the line but in the end a well organised drive broke through the heroic Cumnock defence for a try.

Cumnock kept on applying pressure of their own with Donald Hunter making some strong carries. A quick line out saw Houston release Martin Thomson who threw a well timed dummy pass which allowed him to glide between two defenders. He drew his marker and passed to replacement wing Johnny Seng who stood up his man and rounded him and crossed the line. Unfortunately the referee decided that Seng hadn’t grounded the ball properly and called for a scrum to Oban much to the disappointment of the travelling support.

Oban continued to challenge up front though and it took some more robust defence to hold them up with Andy McCrorie and Alan Smith both making an impression after coming off the bench.

However, two quick fire late tries both from driving mauls from the home side added a bit of gloss to the final score and gave the impression that the game had been considerably more one sided than it was. It was a far more spirited performance than Cumnock have been giving so far this season and hopefully it bodes well for the remainder of the league campaign.

Man of the match was captain David Kerr for a hard working performance from the back row although every player in the team put in a committed display in a very physical match.

Team: G.Montgomery, P.Miller, D.Hunter, B.McMillan, R.Cross, M.Harkin, S.Hunter, D.Kerr, C.McWhirter, S.Houston, G.Hunter, C.Nisbet, M.Thomson, G.Kerr, F.Hamilton

Subs: A.McCrorie, A.Smith, J.Seng

Six Nations Week One - The big questions facing each team

AN intriguing opening weekend of the six nations has answered a few questions about the teams but has created several new ones that will be answered over the next two months.

The country with the most pressing issues to ponder is undoubtedly Wales. For a country that prides itself for its slick attacking rugby, the “Welsh Way” seems to have been replaced with an aimless, sideways shuffle as they repeatedly failed to break through a comfortable English defence. Warren Gatland, the Wales coach has a tough week ahead and faces a difficult selection meeting as Lions stars Mike Phillips, Stephen Jones, Shane Williams and Andy Powell all afiled to impress. Scrum half Phillips had a particularly poor game with a series of misplaced passes putting his side under pressure. He has always got away with taking a couple of steps sideways before releasing the ball because defenders were wary of potential for a devastating break. Against England he simply caused problems for his own team and heaped pressure on the already struggling Stephen Jones.

Wales are a side in serious need of a shake up and the only way to do it is to bring their most creative player James Hook into an area where he can influence play. With a strong looking centre pairing of Jonathon Davies and Jamie Roberts, that means fly-half. Another issue is the counterproductive Andy Powell who is not nearly as good a ball carrier as he thinks he is. Taking the ball into contact, he fails to break tackles and then produces slow ball as he falls on his face. Ryan Jones worked far harder and far more effectively when he replaced Powell and should start this weekend.

Another side that will need to take a long look at themselves is Ireland. For long spells, Italy dominated up front and Ireland relied on the talismanic Brian O’Driscoll for their try and Ronan O’Gara for the winning drop goal. Both of these players are the wrong side of 30 as is Gordon D’arcy, Paul O’Connell, Donnacha O’Callaghan and David Wallace. They cannot keep going much beyond the world cup but Ireland appear to have no plan B. Italy would have heartily deserved their win and would have claimed it apart from a poorly dealt with kick off and an atrocious drop goal attempt. However, they look like a team that will improve, even as the tournament goes on and they will definitely fancy their chances of a win against Wales in Rome. In fact you could argue that this will be the first ever six nation’s match that Italy will go into expecting to win.

It’s not often that you can be beaten 34-21 and take a lot of positives out of it. Scotland can take a lot of heart from their performance in the Stade De France. It’s the first time in years that Scotland claimed three tries against a top five nation, even longer since they scored three tries in an away fixture. The touch downs were all well worked and well deserved with inspirational leader Kellick selling a dummy to score his first ever Scotland try, Kelly Brown treating a weak Sebastian Chabal tackle with the contempt it deserves and Sean Lamont cutting a perfect line through the French defence. Particularly impressive were the two youngsters Richie Gray who put in the outstanding second row performance of the whole weekend and Joe Ansbro who looks like Scotland have finally found a dangerous and creative centre and I would be surprised if he does not improve as the tournament wears on. The only major area of concern is the scrum which was taken apart in the first half by a rampant French side. Euan Murray has not become a bad scrummager over night but a lack of match practice showed against the mighty Thomas Domingo and Moray Low should be given at least twenty minutes against Wales next week. The other concern is Nathan Hines at back row. He is an outstanding player but whether or not he is well served being used out of position is a moot point. He would probably be better deployed as a second row replacement with either Johnnie Beattie or Richie Vernon starting in the back row.

The two top performers of the opening weekend belonged undoubtedly to the pre tournament favourites, England and France.

The English look to have stumbled on the best way to win test matches. Don’t lose them.

England were never spectacular against a weak Welsh side but did enough with two clinical tries from Chris Ashton and a fine demonstration in how to control a game by the assured Toby Flood. The Leicester fly-half has grown into a truly international class playmaker where in previous seasons he has looked in imminent danger of a collapse. His vision to create the opening score was perfect and throughout he pulled the strings that kept England comfortably out of reach. Shontayne Hape, however is a stumbling block in midfield. He is effective with the ball in hand as solid in defence as you would expect from a former rugby league star. However, he is guaranteed to stop the flow of quick ball out wide as is distribution is horribly limited and he appears unable to pass off his left hand.  This combined with the similarly one dimensional Mike Tindall is the weak link in the England chain that stronger opposition than Wales will exploit.

Talking of stronger opposition, France answered several of the questions asked by the shambolic autumn capitulation against Australia. At times against Scotland they were mesmerising, showing imagination and  flair on the counter attack that no other side in the tournament is capable of. The try by the consistently exceptional Imanol Harinordoquy was the moment of opening weekend as an outrageously audacious pass by Francois Trinh Duc through his legs sent the big number 8 galloping home. It was spectacular stuff as was break away that led to Damien Traille touching down. This flair allied to the best pack in the tournament which humiliated a strong looking Scottish side at scrum time could see the French taking home yet another six nations win. In fact, the only thing standing between them and another Grand Slam appears at this stage to be the match at Twickenham against England which promises to be tournament settling encounter.

At this point I would stick to my pre-tournament prediction of a France win without a Grand Slam, England runners up, Scotland a tournament best third and Ireland fourth. However, I now think Italy have a good chance of taking fifth with Wales to prop up the table. One thing’s for sure, there’s going to be an awful lot more questions to be answered as the weeks roll on.